They said, "With the report indicating that many wellsite decisions were jointly made between BP and Transocean, one might reasonably infer that for Transocean to be grossly negligent, so would BP. Thus, based on multiple conversations with legal experts, we expect BP will settle with Transocean, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. [a partner in the well for which BP was operator], and other named defendants well before any public resolution of the myriad claims." Failure to reach a settlement with their partners "could provide additional ammunition to various plaintiffs," said the analysts, who stressed they are not attorneys and their report does not constitute legal advice. Proof of negligence Proof of negligence could greatly increase BP's total cost for the oil spill. Under the Clean Water Act alone, the minimum fine for an oil spill is $1,100/bbl, which for Macondo could total $4.1-4.9 billion vs. a fine of $4,300/bbl for gross negligence that could balloon to $21 billion.