Replies to post #4269 on BP Plc (BP)

[Autom8]

Mitsui & Co. said Tuesday that its MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC unit received a payment request totaling $480 million from BP PLC to cover costs for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The Japanese firm also said MOEX Offshore, which is wholly owned by a U.S. unit of Mitsui's 69.91%-held Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., may receive more requests from the energy giant's BP Exploration and Production Inc. unit in the future.

However, MOEX Offshore will hold off making a decision on whether to pay for the costs, as it is examining the request while it continues talks with BP Exploration, Mitsui said.

MOEX owns a 10% stake in the Macondo well lease, which was involved in the massive oil spill. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of the U.S. owned a 25% stake and BP owns the rest. Such arrangements are common in drilling projects, given the costs of the operations.

Mitsui & Co. said it booked a loss of 2.1 billion yen ($24.3 million) on the revaluation of fixed assets in the April-June quarter partly due to an appraisal loss related to the mining rights in the affected well.