Gulf well partner slams BP as ‘reckless’

Much-hated oil giant BP picked up another enemy yesterday — Anadarko Petroleum, the Texas oil company that owns 25 percent of the gushing Gulf of Mexico well.

The independent oil producer slammed BP as “reckless” and, in a statement, said “the mounting evidence clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was preventable.”

Therefore, the company said, BP should be on the hook for 100 percent of the damages.

The company, the largest deepwater oil producer in the Gulf, said it was “shocked” to learn that BP operated unsafely and that it didn’t monitor and react to warning signs as its Macondo well was drilled 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

A joint-operating agreement provides that BP is responsible for damages under such conditions, it said.

“BP’s behavior and actions likely represent gross negligence or willful misconduct and thus affect the obligations of the parties under the operating agreement,” Anadarko Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Hackett said in a statement.

Anadarko’s position does not align with that of US Representative Edward Markey, who yesterday insisted that both the Texas company and Mitsui & Co., which owns a 10 percent stake in the gushing Gulf well, need to pony up some cash to help pay a share of claims.

“They cannot escape responsibility,” Markey, speaking of BP’s partners, told Bloomberg in an interview to be broadcast this weekend.

BP has agreed to fund a $20 billion escrow fund over four years to compensate victims of the disaster and to help pay for the clean-up costs.

Anadarko also said yesterday that it will donate to Gulf Coast charities or civic agencies any revenue it is entitled to receive from oil recovered in cleanup efforts.

BP refused comment.