Saying they have put last year’s Gulf of Mexico (GOM) deepwater well blowout behind them, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. senior officials last week tried to look past third quarter red ink to what they consider hot domestic shale and African liquefied natural gas (LNG) prospects.

“We’ve reduced the significant uncertainty for our shareholders by putting the Macondo GOM oil disaster with BP behind us, advancing several mega-projects and aggressively advancing value in what might be the largest project in our company’s history — the Mozambique LNG project,” said CEO Jim Hackett, who added that the company is also involved in is busiest-ever offshore exploration and production campaigns in the GOM, Africa and Brazil.

The emphasis domestically is on liquids-rich areas, including significant positions in the newly emerging Utica Shale in Ohio, where Anadarko has control of some 300,000 acres, according to Bob Daniels, senior vice president for worldwide exploration.

“We’re not done yet,” Daniels said during a conference call with analysts Tuesday. “We’re continuing to pursue additional opportunities; we have one rig on location, and we have taken several horizontal cores this year to get our science done. Next year, we’re planning on more exploration with one rig through the rest of this year, and two rigs early next year. We think we are in the liquids-rich window of Utica, and that’s what we were targeting. We have been out there about a year-and-a-half putting this position together.”

Anadarko officials see the Macondo well blowout as no longer a threat to future earnings results. A $4 billion settlement with BP plc has resolved all of the major pending litigation involving Anadarko (see NGI, Oct. 24).

COO Al Walker said Anadarko is in the Wattenberg field in in the Niobrara play in northeast Colorado and has no intention to pursue JVs there. “As we look outside the greater Wattenberg area, and we understand better the opportunity associated with the Niobrara as well as other opportunities, we may find ourselves at some point wanting to move forward with a joint venture there….I keep reminding people that during the last five years we have monetized more than $25 billion in assets, and when this one [Niobrara] is right, we’ll move forward and try to do it there as well.” But it is “unlikely” that Anadarko will try to monetize the play in a joint venture, he said.

Anadarko reported a net loss of $3.05 billion (minus $6.12/diluted share) in 3Q2011, reflecting its $4 billion GOM settlement with BP, compared to a loss of $8 million (minus 5 cents/share) in the same period last year. The GOM oil spill settlement wiped out about $3.37 billion ($6.78/share) of 3Q2011 net income for the independent oil/gas exploration/production company.

“All the government and private investigations have confirmed that we were not directly involved in the drilling of this [Macondo] well, and courts’ rulings as well found that in various motions to dismiss,” said Robert Reeves, Anadarko’s general counsel. “They have all confirmed that we were not directly involved and could not be held at fault for the drilling of this well. As a result, the culpability factor under the [federal] Clean Water Act will restrict any fines or penalties.”

Analysts were concerned about future impacts that might come from expected further action next year out of a Louisiana federal district court filing that was made last year by the U.S. Justice Department. As Anadarko said in a 10Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, the Justice Department complaint seeks separate penalties against Anadarko and its exploration/production company.

As part of the settlement, “BP has agreed to indemnify us on Oil Pollution Act issues, third-party damages and related claims, as well as any natural resource damages,” Reeves said. “By far, the vast majority of any potential claims against [us] we have settled with BP and they have agreed to indemnify us for. We also have corporate assurances from both BP North America and BP plc to back up those indemnities.”

In the SEC filing, Anadarko said it does not consider a Clean Water Act (CWA) penalty assessment probable, and thus, it has not recorded any potential liability exposure.

“Given the company’s lack of direct operational involvement in the event, as recently confirmed by the Louisiana district court, the company believes that its potential exposure to CWA penalties will not materially impact the company’s consolidated financial position,” Anadarko said in the 10Q filing.

Hidden behind the red ink was the fact that Anadarko had an overall 10% increase in natural gas liquids volumes in 3Q2011 compared with that same period last year, and it had a 30% year-over-year increase in oil sales volumes from onshore properties. Hackett cited a number of volume milestones, production records and a 30% increase in Rockies production driven largely by its expanded horizontal drilling efforts, particularly in the Niobrara Shale play in Colorado.

Any borrowing costs for the settlement could be paid off next year by Anadarko’s anticipated sale of some or all of its Brazilian assets. Hackett said that the company has opened a data room for prospective buyers of Anadarko’s Brazilian assets.

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