BP’s partners in the blown-out Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico distanced themselves from the oil giant in a Senate subcommittee hearing on Thursday, though their arguments encountered a skeptical audience.

“Our view is that this accident was preventable,” said James T. Hackett, chief executive of the Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, a part owner in the well.

The well is owned jointly by BP and its investment partners, Anadarko and a subsidiary of the Mitsui Oil Exploration Corporation known as MOEX Offshore 2007.

BP, listed in the contracts as the operator of the well, owns 65 percent; Anadarko owns 25 percent; MOEX, 10 percent. By the terms of the companies’ joint operating agreement, their legal liability for the well corresponds to their share of ownership.