AT A GLANCE:BP Gets Into Spill Liability Dispute With Partner

21st Jun 2010 10:52

THE NEWS BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) shares bucked a bullish market to fall almost 5% Monday morning as investors digested the news that the company's partner in the leaking Macondo oil well, Anadarko Corp. (APC), accused it of negligence and said it will refuse to pay its share of the $20 billion compensation fund and other costs. BP said it strongly disagreed with Anadarko's claims and may now face a protracted legal battle to get Anadarko, which holds 25% of the Macondo license, to pay its full share of costs. The other partner in Macondo, Mitsui & Co. Ltd. (MITSY) has yet to comment. BP also faced fresh criticism that is misled the public with its initial estimates of the size of the oil spill after a Congressional committee released internal documents showing BP's worst-case scenario was for 100,000 barrels a day of oil to leak from the well in the Gulf of Mexico. The estimate would only apply if the blowout preventer and other equipment were removed from the well, allowing unconstrained flow of oil. BP MOVES Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said late Friday that while BP is still estimating the costs and damages from the oil spill, he expects the company to emerge from the crisis. "You must remember BP is a very strong company," Svanberg said in an interview with Sky News. "We will come through this." Svanberg also said CEO Tony Hayward was handing day-to-day operations of the Gulf spill response to managing director Bob Dudley. Svanberg declined to speculate on his own or Hayward's future at the company. Svanberg defended BP's actions leading up to and since the spill. Reacting to criticism that BP had cut corners on safety, he said that hadn't been the company's intention. Hayward faced renewed criticism after he took part in a yacht race in the U.K. over the weekend. THE COLLECTION EFFORT BP captured or burned off just over 21,0000 barrels of oil on June 19, down from 25,000 barrels the day before, because of a partial shutdown of facilities due to essential maintenance. The total volume of oil captured from the leaking well is now 249,500 barrels. THE COST BP said Monday it has spent $2 billion so far on containment, cleanup and compensation related to the oil spill. It has made 32,000 compensation payments totaling over $105 million out of 65,000 claims submitted. MARKET REACTION At 0939 GMT BP's stock price was down 4.8% at 340 pence, underperforming the broader market, which was buoyed by China's decision to re-value its currency. BP's U.K. shares are now down 48% from April 20, the day the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded. The shares remain marginally above their lowest closing level of 337 pence last week. (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 21, 2010 05:52 ET (09:52 GMT)