Indeed it's hard to justify owning BP over Chevron these days. Analyst Fustier points out that BP trades at a 22% discount to net asset value, compared with only a slightly narrower 19% discount for the other supermajors. While BP did pay down $4 billion in debt this year, its $27.5 billion in net debt can't compare with Chevron, which has zero net debt, and roughly $10 billion in net cash. According to Clint, "Rising capex, declining production and lower Upstream profitability leaves us neutral on BP, especially with the final cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill still uncertain." On February 25 BP will be heading to court against the U.S. government in the civil trial of the year, which will ultimately determine the size of BP's regulatory fines and penalties. Court could be avoided if BP can come to settlement terms with the Dept. of Justice. In November BP settled criminal charges for $4 billion.