Anadarko starts oil production in gulf

US energy company Anadarko Petroleum Corp. announced oil production started in the Green Canyon area in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Al Walker, president and chief operating officer at Anadarko, said oil production at the Caesar/Tonga development in the Green Canyon area began last week. "Caesar/Tonga is yet another capital-efficient, deep-water project in our Gulf of Mexico portfolio that we have successfully developed," he said in a statement. The Caesar/Tonga development holds an estimated 200 million-400 million barrels of oil equivalent. Production from three subsea wells is expected to yield 45,000 boe per day. In October, British energy company BP said Anadarko agreed to hand over $4 billion in a single cash payment, which would be applied to the $20 billion trust fund set up to resolve disputes from 2010's spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko also gave up its 25 percent stake in the Macondo prospect. Anadarko was still liable for fines owed to the US government and, in February, a US district judge in New Orleans ruled that BP and Anadarko, a partner at the failed Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, are liable for polluting the waters of the southern U.S. coast.