UPDATE 1-Marathon Oil quarterly earnings sharply lower

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Marathon Oil Corp said its quarterly profit fell, hurt by a drop in crude oil and natural gas liquids prices.

Worries about a slowdown in the global economy and easing tensions in the Middle East pressured crude oil prices last quarter, while vast supplies of natural gas liquids have pressured those prices.

The Houston oil and gas company on Wednesday reported a profit of $393 million, or 56 cents per share, compared with $996 million, or $1.39 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Marathon had a profit of 59 cents per share, exactly matching Wall Street analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Oil and gas output in the quarter was 363,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 341,000 a year ago.

Shares of Marathon rose 1.6 percent to $26.91 in early New York Stock Exchange trading.