Anadarko Petroleum Says Vehemently Disagrees With Court Ruling - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Anadarko Petroleum (APC) late Thursday said it vehemently disagrees with a judge's Memorandum of Opinion issued earlier in the day which found improper action from the company and its unit Kerr-McGee regarding the 2005 spinoff of Tronox Inc. (TROX, TROXB.PK, TROX.PK).

The interim memorandum of opinion issued by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper, which is not a final judgment, said the firm may have to pay as much as $14 billion in environmental damages.

Anadarko said in a statement, "Given the significant factual evidence supporting our position, we vehemently disagree with the Judge's Memorandum of Opinion, and we fully expect to pursue every avenue available to us through the appellate process to protect the interests of our stakeholders, once a final judgment including damages has been rendered."

Tronox was created in 2005 as a spinoff of the Kerr-McGee Corp. Kerr-McGee was subsequently acquired by Anadarko and Tronox Inc. is the predecessor company of Tronox Limited.

Tronox Inc. filed for bankruptcy in January 2009, and emerged from bankruptcy in February 2011. As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the company, along with the U.S. Government, filed suit against Kerr-McGee for its fraudulent transfer of billions of dollars of pre-existing environmental and tort liabilities.

Meanwhile, Tronox said separately that the ruling found that Kerr-McGee acted with intent to delay and hinder Tronox's creditors when it spun off Tronox Inc.

The court found Anadarko liable and indicated an ultimate damages award of $14.5 billion, subject to a set off against claims that Anadarko filed as a creditor in Tronox Inc's 2009 bankruptcy filing. The value of those claims will be determined following the submission of additional court papers.

Tronox said it would receive no immediate or direct benefit from the ruling. Instead, 88 percent of the judgment will go to trusts and other governmental entities to remediate polluted sites. The remaining 12 percent of any funds received will be distributed to a tort trust to compensate individuals injured as a result of Kerr-McGee's environmental failures.