Anadarko posts loss on pollution-settlement costs

HOUSTON (AP) -- Anadarko Petroleum Corp. was dragged to a $2.67 billion loss in the first quarter by expenses from litigation over its acquisition of Kerr-McGee.

Excluding the special items, the oil exploration and production company's results beat Wall Street expectations, and its shares rose in afterhours trading Monday.

Last month, Anadarko agreed to pay $5.15 billion to clean up environmental contamination left by Kerr-McGee, which it acquired in 2006. Shortly before the acquisition, Kerr-McGee had shifted its environmental liabilities to a spinoff, Tronox Inc., the Justice Department alleged.

Anadarko said Monday that its loss of $5.30 per share compared with a year-ago gain of $460 million, or 91 cents per share.

Excluding the Tronox settlement, a $946 million gain from selling some of its interest in an operation in Mozambique and other items, the company said it would have earned $1.26 per share. Analysts expected $1.15 per share on that basis, according to FactSet.

Revenue, including $1.51 billion in gains on divestitures, jumped to $5.84 billion from $3.89 billion a year earlier.

The company said daily sales volumes were a record and the equivalent of 819,000 barrels of oil per day.

Its shares fell 8 cents in regular trading to close at $99.49 before the release of the earnings report. During extended trading, they were up $2, or 2 percent, to $101.49.