Anadarko Asks Texas Justices to Eye Tax Break for Oil Spill Deal

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. wants the Texas Supreme Court to review how a $4 billion settlement it paid BP Plc after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster affects its state franchise tax liability.

Anadarko sought to deduct the payment—which BP used to pay people injured by the incident—as costs of goods sold. It’s appealing a 2023 state appeals court ruling that agreed with the state that the payments covered tort liabilities, not general expenses for the cleanup. State law doesn’t include tort damage payment in the list of subtractible costs of goods sold, but does allow costs associated with production activities—including cleanup—to ...