When a federal judge ruled last fall on who was to blame for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, he didn’t point a finger at Anadarko Petroleum Corp. But the energy company is facing a pollution penalty of as much as $3.5 billion because it owned 25% of the oil well drilled by the ill-fated rig, and would have gained a quarter of the crude it pumped if the well hadn’t exploded.
Now Anadarko…is set to battle federal prosecutors in a trial beginning Jan. 20. It will argue alongside BP PLC, which operated the well known as Macondo. A judge will determine how much each company should pay per barrel spilled.
Anadarko paid BP $4 billion in 2011[#msg-68073418] to release it of any liability from third-party claims and certain environmental fines. But federal and appellate judges have held that Anadarko is still liable under the Clean Water Act.
…Anadarko has set aside $90 million to pay for any penalty. It tried to settle the case for that amount last July, but was rebuffed by the U.S. government.
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