Murphy Oil Corp. (NYSE: MUR) entered into a variable term, capped accelerated share repurchase transaction with Merrill Lynch International to repurchase an aggregate of US $250 million of the company’s common stock.

The transaction is the second part of the board authorized program to repurchase up to US $1 billion of the company’s stock announced on Oct. 16, 2012. The total aggregate number of shares of company common stock to be repurchased pursuant to the transaction will be determined by reference to the Rule 10b-18 volume-weighted price of the company’s common stock, less a fixed discount, over the term of the transaction, subject to a minimum number of shares.

The transaction is expected to be completed no later than three months following execution.

An earlier US $250 million accelerated share repurchase transaction, announced Dec. 10, 2012, has been completed with an additional 196,711 shares of the company’s common stock being delivered to the company. Including shares received earlier, the aggregate total shares of common stock received by the company under the now finalized Dec. 10, 2012 transaction were some 4 million.

All shares of the company’s common stock delivered under the accelerated share repurchase programs will be immediately retired or converted to treasury shares.

Murphy Oil Corp. engages in the E&P of oil and gas properties worldwide. The company is headquartered in El Dorado, Ark.