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|SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
|Washington, D.C. 20549                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
|FORM 10Q/A                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         
|(Amendment No. 1)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
|QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
|SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
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|For the Quarter Ended  September 30, 2004                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
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|Commission File Number: 00107791                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
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|McMoRan Exploration Co.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
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|Incorporated in Delaware                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
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|1615 Poydras Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
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|Registrant's telephone number, including area code:  (504) 5824000                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
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|Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes X  No _
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|Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act) Yes X  No _                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
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|On September 30, 2004, there were issued and outstanding 17,179,131 shares of the registrant's Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             





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DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None









EXPLANATORY NOTE



The purpose of this Amendment No. 1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q of McMoRan Exploration Co. for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2004 (the Original Form 10-Q) is solely to amend Item 9A.  The remainder of the Original Form 10-Q remains unchanged and is not reproduced in this Amendment No. 1.



This Amendment No. 1 continues to reflect circumstances as of the date of the Original Form 10-Q and does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the Original Form 10-Q or modify of update those disclosures in any way.





Item 9A.  Controls and Procedures



(a)  Evaluation of disclosure controls and procedures.  Our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, with the participation of management, have evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-14(c) and 15d-14(c) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of the end of the period covered by this quarterly report on Form 10-Q.  Based on their evaluation, they have concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective in timely alerting them to material information relating to McMoRan (including our consolidated subsidiaries) required to be disclosed in our periodic SEC filings.



(b)  Changes in internal controls.  There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the third fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect our internal control over financial reporting.







McMoRan Exploration Co.

SIGNATURE



Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.



McMoRan Exploration Co.



By:/s/ C. Donald Whitmire, Jr.

C. Donald Whitmire, Jr.

Vice President and Controller-

Financial Reporting

(authorized signatory and

Principal Accounting Officer)

Date:  March 21, 2005







McMoRan Exploration Co.

Exhibit Index

Exhibit Number

|31.1 | Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a14(a)/15d-14(a).
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|31.2 | Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a14(a)/15d-14(a).
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|32.1 | Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.  
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|32.2 | Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350.