Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're digging into the operational DNA of Murphy Oil Corporation, trying to see past the stock ticker to how they actually make money in late 2025. Honestly, it's the classic upstream energy play-finding and developing high-value barrels-but what's interesting now is the execution: they are balancing a massive capital plan, guiding toward about $1.21 billion in CapEx, with a clear focus on shareholder returns, like the $100 million they returned in Q1 2025. This canvas breaks down exactly how their multi-basin assets, from the Eagle Ford Shale to deepwater Vietnam, translate into high-margin, oil-weighted production and a strong liquidity position of roughly $1.5 billion as of March 31, 2025. Dive in below to see the nine blocks that define their strategy right now.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're looking at the core relationships Murphy Oil Corporation relies on to keep the drill bits turning and the barrels flowing. These aren't just casual acquaintances; these are deep, capital-intensive alliances that define where and how Murphy Oil operates.

In the Eagle Ford Shale, Murphy Oil Corporation often operates alongside others, but the request was for the non-operated share. As of early 2025 guidance, Murphy Oil Corporation's non-operated working interest in the Eagle Ford Shale averaged 26 percent. This means for every 100 barrels produced from those specific non-operated wells, Murphy Oil is entitled to 26 barrels, sharing the risk and reward.

Offshore Vietnam, the partnership structure is quite clear for the Lac Da Vang field development in Block 15-1/05, where Murphy's subsidiary is the operator with a 40 percent interest. The key partners here are:

This structure means that for the Lac Da Vang project, Murphy Oil Corporation, PVEP, and SK Earthon Co., Ltd. collectively hold 100 percent of the working interest.

Moving to Offshore Canada, Murphy Oil Corporation is a non-operated partner in both the Terra Nova and Hibernia fields. For the Terra Nova asset specifically, the partnership breakdown is:

• Suncor (Operator): 48 per cent stake.
• Cenovus Energy: 34 per cent stake.
• Murphy Oil: 18 per cent stake.

These percentages define Murphy Oil Corporation's share of production and capital obligations in that specific field. It's a relationship where operational control rests with Suncor, but Murphy Oil carries a material stake.

For deepwater execution, which is a competitive advantage for Murphy Oil Corporation, they rely on Global Contractors and Suppliers. For the Lac Da Vang development in Vietnam, a contract was signed with PTSC Mechanical & Construction for the LDV-A Platform development. Furthermore, to support deepwater execution, Murphy Oil announced the acquisition of the BW Pioneer floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO) for $104 million. That's a significant capital commitment to secure critical service infrastructure.

Finally, the financial backbone is supported by major Financial Institutions. Murphy Oil Corporation entered into a new five-year $1.35 billion senior unsecured credit facility, which matured in October 2029. As of the end of the first quarter of 2025, the drawn amount on this facility was approximately $200 million, leaving $1.15 billion undrawn, alongside $393 million of cash and cash equivalents for liquidity. For the related refinancing involving Murphy USA and Murphy Oil USA, Royal Bank of Canada and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) Bank, N.A. acted as administrative agents for the term and revolving facilities, respectively.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core actions Murphy Oil Corporation takes to bring energy from the ground to the market, focusing on the numbers that define their 2025 execution strategy. It's about drilling, operating, and managing the financial exposure that comes with it.

Global exploration and appraisal drilling (e.g., Vietnam, Côte d'Ivoire)

Murphy Oil Corporation maintains an active global exploration footprint, prioritizing high-potential areas. For the full year 2025, the company allocated $145 million toward exploration activities. This included drilling in key international areas like Côte d'Ivoire, alongside significant appraisal work in Vietnam.

• Drilling the Lac Da Hong-1X exploration well in Vietnam encountered 106 feet of net oil pay.
• The appraisal well at Hai Su Vang in Vietnam confirmed 370 feet of net oil pay from two reservoirs.
• The company is evaluating development concepts for the Lac Da Hong discovery, which has a preliminary mean-to-upward gross resource potential of 30-60 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

Efficient development drilling in core assets like Eagle Ford Shale

The US Onshore business, particularly the Eagle Ford Shale (EFS), is a major focus for development capital. Murphy Oil planned to deploy approximately $360 million of its 2025 Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) budget into the EFS. This activity is geared toward efficiency, with operating costs in the first half of 2025 down 18 percent compared to the first half of 2024.

Here's a quick look at the planned 2025 EFS drilling activity versus Q1 2025 production performance:

The company drilled the longest lateral in its EFS history at 13,976 ft in Catarina.

Operating and maintaining complex offshore facilities (e.g., King's Quay, Delta House)

Operating existing, complex infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico is a key activity supporting production flow. The King's Quay Floating Production System (FPS), which Murphy Oil operates, is designed with a nominal processing capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 100 million cubic feet of gas per day. The acquisition of the Pioneer FPSO is expected to help lower annual operating expenses by $50 million.

Managing commodity price risk using derivative instruments

To underpin capital spending and manage volatility, Murphy Oil Corporation actively uses derivative instruments. For natural gas, the company had specific hedges in place for 2025 production volumes:

• NYMEX natural gas swaps for Q3 2025 production: 60 MMCFD at an average price of $3.65 per MCF.
• NYMEX natural gas swaps for Q4 2025 production: 60 MMCFD at $3.74 per MCF.

Also, Murphy maintains fixed price forward sales contracts in Canada to mitigate volatility in AECO prices.

Executing the Lac Da Vang (Golden Camel) field development in Vietnam

Advancing the Lac Da Vang field development is a critical near-term activity, with first oil targeted for Q4 2026. The field is estimated to hold up to 100 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in gross resources. Murphy Oil allocated $110 million in 2025 CAPEX for its Vietnam offshore operations, which included specific funding for this project.

The initial phase involves the central complex platform (LDV-A Platform), which is planned to be commissioned in the second half of 2026.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets that power Murphy Oil Corporation's operations as of late 2025. These aren't just line items; they are the physical and financial foundations supporting their strategy.

The company's physical footprint is spread across a multi-basin asset portfolio, which is a key element in managing regional risk and opportunity. This includes significant positions in the Gulf of Mexico, the Eagle Ford Shale, assets in Canada, and development in Vietnam.

The scale of their potential inventory is substantial. Murphy Oil Corporation's ongoing exploration and appraisal activity is positioned to test for more than one billion BOEs in gross un-risked resource potential. This potential sits alongside their current proved reserves base.

A concrete example of owned infrastructure is the BW Pioneer Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. This asset was acquired for a net acquisition Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) of $104 million, which was part of the reaffirmed 2025 CAPEX guidance range of $1,135 million to $1,285 million.

Financially, Murphy Oil Corporation maintained a strong liquidity position, reporting approximately $1.5 billion as of March 31, 2025. This liquidity was comprised of $1.15 billion undrawn under the $1.35 billion senior unsecured credit facility and $393 million of cash and cash equivalents, inclusive of Noncontrolling Interests (NCI).

The company's ability to execute complex projects is a resource in itself, particularly the specialized deepwater execution capability and technical talent, which is cited as a competitive advantage, especially in the Gulf of Mexico.

Here's a breakdown of the tangible asset base supporting the onshore and offshore segments:

The technical talent supports specific operational areas, which you can see mapped out:

• Gulf of Mexico: Deepwater execution capability is a competitive advantage.
• Vietnam: Progress on Lac Da Vang (Golden Camel) field development.
• Onshore United States: Eagle Ford Shale on ~120,000 net acres.
• Onshore Canada: Kaybob Duvernay with ~420 future locations.
• Offshore Canada: Non-operated partner in Terra Nova and Hibernia fields.

That liquidity position of $1.5 billion on March 31, 2025, is what allows them to fund the 2025 CAPEX plan, which was guided between $1,135 million and $1,285 million.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core promises Murphy Oil Corporation makes to its customers and investors as of late 2025. These aren't just vague goals; they are backed by specific operational and financial commitments.

High-margin, oil-weighted production from offshore assets remains a cornerstone. In the first quarter of 2025, Murphy Oil's offshore operations delivered 71 MBOEPD (thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day), characterized by a high oil content of 83%. This focus on oil-heavy production helps anchor margins, especially when compared to the gassier onshore Canada assets. Overall, offshore contributed 45% of the total Q1 2025 production of 157 MBOEPD, yet accounted for 66% of the revenue for that quarter, showing its margin-driving importance.

Murphy Oil Corporation maintains a diversified risk profile across onshore and offshore, domestic and international assets. This diversification is evident in their planned capital deployment for the full year 2025, which spreads investment across different geographies and operational types. Here's how the expected accrued Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) were allocated:

This allocation shows a balanced approach, though offshore leads the spending. The onshore business, for instance, saw production of approximately 118 MBOEPD in the second quarter of 2025, demonstrating its significant contribution to overall volume.

A clear commitment to shareholder returns via dividends and buybacks is a stated value. For the first quarter of 2025, Murphy Oil Corporation returned a total of $147 million to shareholders. This included a specific commitment to share repurchases, totaling $100 million in Q1 2025, alongside $47 million in quarterly dividends. The company has been actively reducing its share count, which stood at 142.7 million shares outstanding in Q1 2025.

The company delivers on operational excellence through tangible capital efficiency gains in drilling. You can see this in the year-to-date 2025 performance metrics compared to 2024. Specifically, Murphy Oil Corporation achieved an 8% reduction in drilling cost per foot and a 9% reduction in completion cost per lateral foot in year-to-date 2025. This efficiency allowed them to plan for drilling six additional Eagle Ford Shale wells in the fourth quarter of 2025, which are expected to come online in 2026.

Finally, the pursuit of transformative conventional volumes from an active exploration program offers substantial upside. Murphy Oil Corporation's planned 2025 and 2026 exploration and appraisal activity is positioned to test for more than one billion BOEs in gross un-risked resource potential. A concrete example of this potential is the Hai Su Vang-2X (Golden Sea Lion) appraisal well in Vietnam; its results are expected to help tighten and potentially increase the previously guided recoverable resources range from 170 MMBOE to 430 MMBOE.

The value proposition centers on a few key operational outputs:

• Offshore oil production at 83% oil content in Q1 2025.
• Drilling cost per foot efficiency gain of 8% year-to-date 2025.
• Share repurchase amount of $100 million in Q1 2025.
• Un-risked exploration potential exceeding one billion BOEs gross.
• Full year 2025 production guidance midpoint around 178.5 MBOEPD.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how Murphy Oil Corporation manages its connections with the various groups it deals with, from the big buyers of its product to the local communities where it operates. It's a mix of hard contracts, financial transparency, and community goodwill, which is pretty standard for an independent E&P (Exploration & Production) company.

Transactional and contractual relationships with large-scale buyers

The core transactional relationship is selling crude oil and natural gas, which is governed by prevailing market prices and the volume produced. For the third quarter of 2025, Murphy Oil Corporation realized an average oil price of $66.18 per barrel and a natural gas price of $1.50 per thousand cubic feet (MCF). Total company production for that quarter hit 200,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD), with oil production specifically at 94,100 barrels per day. Operating expenses were tightly managed, coming in at $9.39 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE) in Q3 2025.

Here's a quick look at some of those key operational metrics that define the transactional reality:

This focus on cost control, evidenced by the $2.41 per BOE reduction in operating expenses from the second quarter, directly impacts the competitiveness of their product sales.

Investor relations focused on clear capital allocation and returns

For the investment community, Murphy Oil Corporation emphasizes a clear Capital Allocation Plan designed to reward shareholders while maintaining a strong balance sheet. The plan allocates a minimum of 50 percent of adjusted free cash flow to shareholder returns, primarily through buybacks. As of the end of the first three quarters of 2025, the company distributed $139.8 million in dividends to shareholders. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Murphy Oil Corporation repurchased $100.0 million of stock, reducing shares outstanding to 142.7 million as of September 30, 2025. The current quarterly cash dividend stands at $0.325 per share, which annualizes to $1.30 per share. To be fair, the stock trades at an EV/EBITDA ratio of 3.89 based on recent data, suggesting a potentially attractive valuation to some analysts.

Community investment through programs like the El Dorado Promise scholarship

Murphy Oil Corporation's relationship with the El Dorado, Arkansas community is cemented by the El Dorado Promise scholarship, a long-term commitment to local education. The program was established with an initial commitment of $50 million from the Murphy Foundation. Since its inception in January 2007, nearly 1,500 students have received Promise scholarship funding. This relationship is designed to foster a college-going culture, and the maximum scholarship amount is set to cover tuition and mandatory fees equal to the highest in-state, public university rate, which was about $7,500 last year.

Key aspects of this community relationship include:

• Initial funding commitment: $50 million.
• Total students funded since inception: Nearly 1,500.
• Scholarship renewal requirement: Maintaining a 2.0 grade point average and completing 12 credit hours per semester.
• Program duration: The initial commitment was for twenty years.

Direct communication via quarterly updates and SEC filings

Murphy Oil Corporation maintains a structured cadence for communicating with the market, ensuring timely disclosure of performance and strategic direction. You can track this through their regular investor updates, such as the one detailing third quarter 2025 results released on November 5, 2025. Furthermore, required regulatory disclosures are made via SEC filings; for instance, a Form 8-K was filed on August 6, 2025. The company explicitly encourages investors to review materials posted on its Investor Relations website, http://ir.murphyoilcorp.com, as a channel for material information.

Long-term, defintely stable relationships with host governments (e.g., PETROCI)

In international operations, long-term stability with host governments is crucial for asset security and future development, as seen in Côte d'Ivoire with PETROCI Holding. Murphy Oil Corporation holds stakes in five offshore blocks (CI-102, CI-103, CI-502, CI-531, and CI-709) in partnership with PETROCI. The standard working interest split is 90:10 in favor of Murphy Oil Corporation, though for block CI-103, which contains the Paon field, the split is 85:15. These relationships involve joint planning, with the parties agreeing on the 2025 work program and budget during meetings in August 2024. The partnership is also looking ahead, with three prospects slated for a future drilling campaign planned for 2026.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Murphy Oil Corporation moves its barrels and molecules to market, which is critical given their Q3 2025 production hit 200.4 thousand barrels of oil equivalents per day (MBOEPD). The primary channel for crude oil is through direct sales contracts, though the specific refiner counterparties aren't always public, the realized price tells part of the story: for Q3 2025, Murphy Oil Corporation realized $66.18 per barrel for its oil production.

For natural gas, the channels are more explicitly detailed, especially concerning price risk management. Murphy Oil Corporation sells volumes through pipeline networks, with a significant portion of its Canadian gas sales tied to the AECO hub, which saw exceptionally weak prices through the 2025 shoulder season, resulting in a realized natural gas price of only $1.50 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) in Q3 2025. To counter this, they use fixed price forward sales contracts in Canada for physical delivery.

The use of commodity exchanges, specifically NYMEX, is a key channel for price realization hedging on natural gas volumes. Here's a quick look at the derivative positions taken to manage price volatility for 2025 gas volumes:

The company also uses these channels to distribute corporate and financial data to stakeholders. You can find the latest investor materials, including the 3Q 2025 Earnings materials, on the Investor Relations page at http://ir.murphyoilcorp.com. This channel is where they post required filings and updates, such as the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.325 per share (annualized to $1.30 per share) as of October 1, 2025. The information available includes:

• Investor Materials and Latest Presentation.
• 2025 Sustainability Report and 2024 Annual Report.
• 2025 Proxy Statement and Form 10-Q filings.
• Quarterly Stockholder Updates and Press Releases.

Finally, moving the product requires extensive use of transportation and logistics providers. Given that Murphy Oil Corporation's Q3 2025 production included 94.1 MBOPD of oil and natural gas comprised 47% of the total MBOEPD mix, the scale of third-party pipeline capacity, marine transport for offshore volumes in the Gulf of America and Vietnam, and trucking/rail for onshore assets like Eagle Ford Shale is substantial. The company maintained approximately $1.5 billion of liquidity as of June 30, 2025, which helps manage the working capital tied up in product moving through these complex logistics chains.

Finance: finalize the Q4 2025 realized price sensitivity analysis by end-of-week.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at the core buyers for Murphy Oil Corporation's output as of late 2025. Honestly, for an upstream and midstream focused company like Murphy Oil Corporation, the customer segments are less about direct retail consumers and more about large-scale industrial and financial entities.

The primary physical customers are those who take the crude oil and natural gas volumes produced. For the three months ended June 30, 2025, Murphy Oil Corporation's total production, net of NCI (Non-Controlling Interests), averaged 189,677 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD). Of that, oil production, net, was 89,530 BOPD. Total revenue from sales to customers for that period was reported as $683,065.

The customer base can be segmented as follows:

• Global crude oil refiners and marketers.
• Natural gas utilities and industrial consumers in North America.
• Institutional and retail shareholders (institutional ownership is about 95.95% as of June 2025).
• National oil companies (NOCs) and state entities in host countries.
• Commodity traders and financial counterparties for hedging.

The shareholder base represents a distinct, non-revenue customer segment. As of June 2025, Institutional Investors held 95.95% of the company. The total shares outstanding as of June 30, 2025, was 142.7 million shares. There were 808 institutional owners and shareholders who had filed 13D/G or 13F forms with the SEC, holding a total of 162,710,240 shares.

For the commodity and financial side, Murphy Oil Corporation uses fixed price forward sales contracts in Canada to manage price exposure, which directly involves commodity traders and financial counterparties.

Here's a quick look at the scale of production volumes that feed these customer groups for the three months ended June 30, 2025:

Regarding international operations, which often involve NOCs, Murphy Oil Corporation reported drilling an oil discovery at Hai Su Vang-1X in offshore Vietnam, where PetroVietnam Exploration Production Corporation Ltd. holds a 35 percent working interest. This points to direct engagement with state-owned entities in host countries as partners or counterparties.

The North American natural gas customer segment is supported by production from areas like the Tupper Montney, where natural gas production averaged 429 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) in the third quarter of 2024.

Finance: review the Q3 2025 operational data when it releases on November 6, 2025, to update the BOEPD figures by Wednesday.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the core expenses that drive Murphy Oil Corporation's operations as of late 2025. Understanding where the money goes is key to seeing the financial reality behind their production targets.

Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) represent a significant commitment, funding future production and exploration. Murphy Oil Corporation maintained a wide guidance range for 2025 accrued CAPEX, which includes major purchases like the Pioneer FPSO. The full year 2025 accrued CAPEX guidance range was set between $1,135 million and $1,285 million. This gives a midpoint expectation of approximately $1.21 billion.

Drilling down into the 2025 capital allocation, specific programs have dedicated budgets:

• The exploration program for 2025 was allocated approximately $145 million.
• The Eagle Ford Shale received about $360 million of the 2025 CAPEX.
• Canada onshore operations were allocated approximately $140 million.
• Vietnam and other offshore operations had about $115 million allocated.

Operating costs are closely managed, with Lease Operating Expenses (LOE) showing sequential improvement. For the third quarter of 2025, LOE improved to $9.39 per BOE. This was a significant drop from the second quarter average of $11.80 per BOE. Looking ahead, the expectation for the fourth quarter of 2025 LOE is in the range of $10 to $12 per BOE.

Here's a quick look at how the key operating cost metric tracked through the year:

Exploration costs are distinct from development CAPEX. The total amount charged to exploration expense attributable to Murphy Oil Corporation in the third quarter of 2025, excluding previously suspended costs, was $50.5 million. This aligns with the overall $145 million allocated for the full 2025 exploration program.

Financing costs factor in through interest expense tied to the balance sheet structure. As of March 31, 2025, Murphy Oil Corporation's total debt stood at $1.48 billion. This debt was primarily comprised of long-term, fixed-rate notes which carried a weighted average coupon of 6.1 percent. While a specific 2025 interest expense figure isn't detailed here, the debt load and coupon rate define this fixed cost component.

General and administrative (G&A) overhead is a necessary fixed cost, though specific 2025 G&A figures weren't explicitly itemized in the same detail as LOE or CAPEX in the latest updates. The cost structure relies on managing these overheads alongside direct operating expenses like LOE.

Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at the core ways Murphy Oil Corporation brings in money, focusing on the hard numbers from their latest reports as of late 2025. The revenue picture is clearly dominated by the sale of hydrocarbons, with a strong emphasis on oil production performance in the third quarter of 2025.

The primary revenue drivers are the sales of crude oil and natural gas, with natural gas liquids (NGLs) making up a smaller, but still present, portion of the total sales volume. Murphy Oil Corporation reported total revenue from production sales (excluding hedges) of $681 Million for the third quarter of 2025, based on a total production of 200.4 MBOEPD for that period, excluding non-controlling interest (NCI).

Here is a breakdown of the key components contributing to that top line:

• Sales of crude oil: Q3 2025 oil production, net, was 94,067 BOPD. This represented 47% of the total production mix by volume for the quarter.
• Sales of natural gas liquids (NGLs): NGLs accounted for 6% of the total production mix by volume in Q3 2025. The realized price for NGLs was $19.36 / BBL.
• Sales of natural gas: Natural gas comprised 47% of the total production mix by volume in Q3 2025. The realized price for natural gas was $1.50 / MCF.

The company's realized pricing for Q3 2025, before accounting for hedges and midstream costs, was:

• Oil: $66.18 / BBL.
• Natural Gas: $1.50 / MCF.
• NGLs: $19.36 / BBL.

The revenue streams are also segmented by asset, which gives you a clearer picture of where the sales dollars are originating. Note that these segment revenues total $680 Million, aligning closely with the reported total revenue of $681 Million for the quarter (excluding hedges).

Revenue from derivative commodity instruments is typically reflected in realized pricing or as separate line items for gains or losses, rather than direct sales revenue. For Q3 2025, Murphy Oil recorded unrealized gains on derivatives of $16 million (pre-tax), which offset a portion of a non-cash impairment charge. This shows the financial impact of their hedging strategy on the bottom line, even if it isn't a direct sales stream.

Regarding the non-controlling interest (NCI) share of project revenue, the operational and financial highlights provided for Q3 2025 production and revenue generally exclude NCI figures, meaning the reported 200.4 MBOEPD and $681 Million revenue are net to Murphy Oil Corporation's controlling interest. The offshore business production figure of 68 MBOEPD specifically excludes NCI.