Anadarko Petroleum, BP’s partner in the Gulf and holder of 25% of the interest in the Mississippi Canyon block 252 lease drilling area, today said that everything was BP’s fault and nothing was Anadarko’s. Anadarko, it would seem, had absolutely no responsibility for discovering, drilling, manning, or supervising the activity on the Deepwater Horizon rig.
“The events surrounding the Deepwater Horizon explosion represent a terrible loss for the families of those who lost their lives and an unprecedented environmental tragedy,” Anadarko Chairman and CEO Jim Hackett said. “Sadly, it also continues to have tremendous impacts on the livelihoods of many Gulf Coast families and their communities. We, along with others in the industry, have continued to support the Unified Command in its response with technical expertise and specialized equipment.
“The mounting evidence clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was preventable and the direct result of BP’s reckless decisions and actions. Frankly, we are shocked by the publicly available information that has been disclosed in recent investigations and during this week’s testimony that, among other things, indicates BP operated unsafely and failed to monitor and react to several critical warning signs during the drilling of the Macondo well. BP’s behavior and actions likely represent gross negligence or willful misconduct and thus affect the obligations of the parties under the operating agreement,” continued Hackett.
Anadarko’s feeling were probably hurt when Moody’s cut its paper to junk status today. to Ba1 from Baa3.
BP said Anadarko’s opinion of the situation was mistaken. In other words, the entire issue of liability will end up in court and the Department of Justice is likely to take actions against both companies for negligence.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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