BP Wants Partners to Help Shoulder Spill Cost

BP Wants Partners to Help Shoulder Spill Cost
By John Schwartz | NY Times

The other companies, however, do not necessarily see their responsibilities the same way BP does. Anadarko has suggested that BP engaged in “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct” — terms that, if proved in arbitration or court, could allow it to slip the bonds of liability under its joint operating agreement with BP. A spokesman for Anadarko, John Christiansen, said he would not comment beyond the company’s previous statement, adding, “We are still assessing our contractual remedies.”

BP has said repeatedly that it will pay for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But its actions show that it does not intend to go it alone.

Newly released documents show that on June 2, BP sent out demands for nearly $400 million to its partners in the well, the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation and the Mitsui Oil Exploration Company of Japan, or roughly 40 percent of the $1 billion BP spent in May.

The amounts demanded by BP — $272 million from Anadarko and $111 million from Mitsui — reflect the provisions of each company’s joint operating agreement with BP, which gives a share of liability equal to each company’s share of ownership. Read more.