Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC), holder of a 25 percent stake in the Macondo well that caused the biggest offshore U.S. oil spill, is likely to settle with BP Plc (BP/) after one partner agreed to help pay for the disaster, analysts said.
BP announced an agreement today with MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, the unit of Tokyo-based Mitsui & Co. that had a 10 percent stake in the well. Under the agreemen
t, the first settlement among the project’s partners, Mitsui will pay $1.07 billion to cover all claims between the two companies related to the spill, according to the statement.
“Clearly, this increases the likelihood of a settlement between Anadarko and BP,” said John Lutz, who helps oversee about $6.8 billion in assets, including about 200,000 Anadarko shares, at Frost Investment Advisors in San Antonio. “I think it’s a significant positive.”
Anadarko, based in The Woodlands, Texas, plunged to less than $35 a share last June from a close of $73.94 on April 20, 2010 -- the day of the Macondo explosion in the Gulf. The company’s shares have since recovered and they gained as much as 6.1 percent today, the largest intraday increase since Dec. 30.
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