By Jonathan Stempel
Jan 9 (Reuters) - BP Plc and Anadarko Petroleum Corp narrowly failed to persuade a U.S appeals court toreconsider its 2014 ruling that they could face civil finesunder federal pollution laws over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oilspill.
By a 7-6 vote, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals letstand a three-judge panel's decision to uphold a 2012 rulingfrom U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in New Orleans, in whichhe said the companies could face Clean Water Act penalties.
Barbier is scheduled on Jan. 20 to begin a non-jury trial todetermine pollution fines. BP is appealing his Sept. 4 rulingthat it was grossly negligent in causing the spill, exposing theLondon-based company to roughly $18 billion of potential fines.
BP and Anadarko had owned a respective 65 percent and 25percent of the Macondo well, which blew out following the April20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
They said they should not face fines because the dischargethat culminated in the largest U.S. offshore oil spill was theresult of a broken riser under the control of Transocean Ltd, which owned the rig.
The three-judge panel ruled against BP and Anadarko lastJune 4, and issued a separate ruling five months later that thecompanies said caused confusion, further justifying a rehearing.
An outside spokeswoman for BP declined to comment. Anadarkospokesman John Christiansen also declined to comment.
Writing for the dissenting judges, Circuit Judge Edith BrownClement said on Friday the panel misinterpreted the Clean WaterAct, and misapplied its own standard in assessing what happened.
She said denial of a rehearing "ensures that our precedentconcerning liability for oil spills under the Clean Water Actremains unclear."
The case is In re: Deepwater Horizon, 5th U.S. Circuit Courtof Appeals, No. 12-30883. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York. Editing by AndreGrenon)
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