Anadarko, MOEX distance themselves from spill: report

(Reuters) - Anadarko Petroleum and MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, who held minority stakes in the blown-out Macondo deep-sea well that caused the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, are taking steps to distance themselves from the disaster, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The WSJ cited prepared testimonies that executives of the companies were scheduled to deliver on Thursday before a panel of the U.S. Senate's Homeland Security Committee.

Anadarko and MOEX Offshore 2007 said in the testimony their role as minority investors prevented them making any decisions about Macondo or its drilling operations, according to the WSJ.

"The operations of the Macondo well were conducted with BP controlling all operating decisions," Anadarko chief executive James Hackett said in prepared remarks.

Anadarko owned a 25 percent interest in the well, while MOEX Offshore owned 10 percent interest. BP owned the remaining 65 percent of the lease, the Journal said, citing Hackett's testimony.

MOEX Offshore is the U.S. unit of Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration Co Ltd.

The environmental disaster caused by the April 20 oil rig explosion off the coast of Louisiana has devastated U.S. Gulf Coast tourism and fishing industries and dented President Barack Obama's approval ratings.

Anadarko and MOEX Offshore were not available to comment.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Dan Lalor)