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By Jonathan Stempel
Dec 1 (Reuters) - A federal judge ordered Anadarko PetroleumCorp to pay a $159.5 million civil fine reflecting itsstake in the Gulf of Mexico well whose 2010 blowout caused thelargest U.S. offshore oil spill.
In a decision on Monday, U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier inNew Orleans said Anadarko was not at fault for the spill.
But he said the company's 25 percent ownership stake in theMacondo well made it part of the "polluting enterprise"responsible for the April 20, 2010 disaster, which included theexplosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig and killed 11workers.
The penalty equates to $50 per barrel of oil spilled, wellbelow the maximum $1,100 per barrel, or $3.51 billion, penaltythat Barbier could have imposed under the Clean Water Act.
A $159.5 million fine "strikes the appropriate balancebetween Anadarko's lack of culpability and the extremeseriousness of this spill," Barbier wrote in a 34-page decision.
In Tuesday morning trading, Anadarko shares were up $1.02,or 1.7 percent, at $60.92.
The payout may resolve the last major legal uncertainty thatAnadarko, which is based in The Woodlands, Texas, faced over thespill.
BP Plc owned 65 percent of the Macondo well, whileMitsui & Co's MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC owned 10 percent.
In 2011, Anadarko agreed to pay BP $4 billion to help covervictim claims and cleanup costs.
BP later reached a $20.8 billion settlement with the U.S.government and five Gulf states.
The government had sought a penalty for Anadarko below $3.51billion but "significantly above $1 billion," reflecting theseriousness of the violation. Anadarko said no fine wasjustified.
In a statement, Anadarko said it is pleased that the fine is"far less" than the government sought.
It also said it may appeal, and maintained that "penalizinga non-operator for events beyond its control is inconsistentwith the intent of the Clean Water Act."
The case is In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig "DeepwaterHorizon" in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20, 2010, U.S. DistrictCourt, Eastern District of Louisiana, No. 10-md-02179. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by AldenBentley)
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