Recent rumblings from politicians and BP (NYSE:BP) concerning sharing liability in the Gulf oil spill made me wonder how long it would take for the focus to center on Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE:APC), and it seems its time has come, as an article in the Financial Times asserts they were much more aware of what was going on prior to the accident and gave approval to the overall well designs for Macondo.
It's interesting to see the British-based Times report this story, as it does offer some aid to BP in the sense of potentially reducing the amount they may have to pay for damages related to the oil spill.
Anadarko has been battling prior to this to minimize their exposure, pointing out the "reckless" behavior of BP concerning handling the way the well and oil rig were being operated.
But with the approval of the key oil well designs by Anadarko, and their alleged awareness of the key operational decisions being by BP, they can't argue they were clueless and had no idea what was going on with BP and why they did what they did, like they've been attempting to paint themselves as having been in the situation.
Being a 25 percent partner in the oil well, this could come back to bite and haunt Anadarko if they even have to pay close to the percent they own in the project.
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