Anadarko Petroleum Corp reported a wider quarterly loss on Monday, as the U.S. oil and gas company spent $4 billion to reach a settlement with BP Plc over that company's Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster last year.

Anadarko owned 25 percent of the Macondo well that ruptured in April 2010, killing 11 men and causing the world's worst marine oil spill. BP and Anadarko settled on October 17. effectively eliminating a worry for Andarko investors.

Since the deal was announced, shares of Andarko have climbed 11 percent.

The company also said it has amassed a 300,000 acre position in the developing Utica Shale in Ohio. Companies have flocked to that basin in a search for crude oil and natural gas liquids trapped in shale.

Anadarko, based in Houston, reported a third-quarter loss of $3.1 billion, or $6.12 per share, compared with a loss of $26 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding the BP settlement and other one-time items, Houston based Anadarko had a profit of 66 cents a share. On average, Wall Street analysts had expected a profit of 67 cents per share, according to data from Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales of oil and gas were 660,000 barrels oil equivalent (boe) per day, up 5 percent from 629,000 boe per day in the 2010 third quarter.

Looking ahead, Anadarko left it production outlook for the full year essentially unchanged. The company expects total sales of oil and gas of 245 million to 248 million boe, up from 244 million to 248 million last quarter.

For 2011, Anadarko said it will spend up to $6.27 billion, down a bit from its prior forecast for capital expenditures of $6.45 billion.

Shares of Andarko edged down to $78.30 after the close of regular trading. The stock closed at $78.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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