Dear BP: everybody hates you now.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which owns a 25% stake in the Deepwater well, is running as fast as they can from their erstwhile partner:
Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a minority partner of BP PLC in the oil well that blew out in the Gulf of Mexico, on Friday unleashed a broadside against the British oil giant, accusing the company of "gross negligence or willful misconduct."
Here's what Anadarko's CEO had to say:
...on Friday, Anadarko Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Hackett released a statement slamming BP for operating "unsafely" and missing "several critical warning signs" during the drilling.
"The mounting evidence clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was preventable and the direct result of BP's reckless decisions and actions," he said.
Now, you're probably asking yourself: why is a 25% stakeholder in the well so eager to distance themselves from BP?
Well, there's this:
Junior partners in oil wells are generally responsible for their share of all operating costs, including any cleanup costs in the event of a spill.
Except that:
But according to Anadarko, its contract with BP stipulates that BP is responsible for all damages caused by "its gross negligence or willful misconduct."
Oh, so that explains why their CEO is accusing BP of...wait for it..."gross negligence or willful misconduct."
But according to the Anadarko CEO, that isn't why he's making these statements:
He said his decision to speak up was driven not by financial reasons but by a "sense of shock and dismay over what we've heard in the public testimony."
Uh-huh, that must be it. Shock and dismay. No worries at all about liability.
BP is fast running out of friends.