Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) closed on the sale of three tranches of senior unsecured notes, the company based out of El Dorado, Ark., announced.

The first tranche of $550 million of 2.500% coupon notes will mature on December 1, 2017; the second tranche of $600 million of 3.700% coupon notes will mature on December 1, 2022; and the third tranche of $350 million of 5.125% coupon notes will mature on December 1, 2042. Interest is payable semi-annually on June 1 and December 1, commencing June 1, 2013 for all three tranches.

Proceeds of the issue are expected to be used to fund Murphy’s previously announced special dividend of $2.50 per share and to fund repurchases pursuant to a share buyback program in an aggregate amount up to $1 billion and for general corporate purposes.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC were joint book-running managers. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., DNB Markets Inc. and Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA) Inc. were senior co-managers. Capital One Southcoast Inc., Comerica Securities Inc., Fifth Third Securities Inc., Morgan Keegan & Company Inc., Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. and U.S. Bancorp Investments Inc. were co-managers.

The notes were offered solely by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.