SEC FORM 4

SEC Form 4

FORM 4

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person^*

ADKERSON RICHARD C

(Last)

(First)

(Middle)

1615 POYDRAS STREET

(Street)

NEW ORLEANS

70112

(City)

(State)

(Zip)

2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
MCMORAN EXPLORATION CO /DE/ [ MMR ]

5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)

X	Director	10% Owner
X	Officer (give title below)	Other (specify below)
	Co-Chairman of the Board

3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
04/22/2008

4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

X	Form filed by One Reporting Person
	Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price		6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
Common Stock	04/22/2008		M		10,000	A	$25.3125	184,627	D
Common Stock	04/22/2008		F⁽¹⁾		9,496	D	$27.68	174,879⁽²⁾	D
Common Stock								147	I	IRA

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares	8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)		10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
Options (right to buy)	$25.3125	04/22/2008		M			10,000	01/04/1999	05/04/2008	Common Stock	10,000	$0	0	D

Explanation of Responses:

1. Shares delivered and withheld to cover the exercise price and taxes due upon the exercise of options.

2. 252 of the net shares issued to the Reporting Person pursuant to this exercise were previously transferred to his former spouse and are no longer included in his beneficial ownership.

Remarks:

Since the date of the Reporting Person's last Form 4, he has transferred ownership of 64,628 shares of common stock held directly to his former spouse. The Reporting Person no longer reports these shares as beneficially owned. Following the reported transaction, the Reporting Person holds options to acquire a total of 1,885,000 shares of MMR common stock, 1,660,000 of which are vested and 225,000 of which are unvested. The Reporting Person has transferred the economic value of 942,500 of such options to his former spouse, and thus disclaims beneficial ownership of such options. The Reporting Person also holds 5,000 shares of preferred stock convertible into 33,602 shares of MMR common stock.

	Kelly C. Simoneaux, on behalf of Richard C. Adkerson pursuant to a power of attorney	04/24/2008
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
Note: File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed. If space is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.
Persons who respond to the collection of information contained in this form are not required to respond unless the form displays a currently valid OMB Number.