BP settles with injured Deepwater Horizon cook as trial looms The news of the settlement came days after Moex, a minority partner in the well, agreed a $90m settlement with the US Department of Justice over the disaster, including $70m in civil penalties to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. Clean Water Act penalties are some of the largest fines BP and Transocean could face, with the amounts set to be determined through the trial. The maximum fines could be nearly four times higher if gross negligence is proven, but BP has always denied this. The company has repeatedly said that it would like to settle - but only at a "reasonable" price. Many analysts have suggested a settlement before the trial is the most likely outcome, but that the short time frame poses one of the biggest obstacles due to the complexity and number of claims involved. Analyst Fadel Gheit, at Oppenheimer & Co, told Bloomberg "there could be very important decisions this week." Jason Kenney, an analyst at Banco Santander, said after the Moex settlement: "We can't really read across anything with certainty... But this implies that a settlement is possible and perhaps more likely for others, too. Malcolm Graham-Wood, oil analyst at VSA Capital, said: "I still think we are better than evens for BP to cut a deal." BP last week raised €2.5bn in a bond issue. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets estimated the issue took BP's liquidity to $20bn. They said: "We believe that BP not only has comfort on liquidity for a potential near-term settlement, but also that the issue of bonds is a sign that negotiations are active and becoming more tangible." Separately, a 225,000 barrel-per-day BP refinery in Washington remained idle after a fire on Friday that shut the crude distillation unit. Tensions with Iran have pushed the oil price to an eight-month high above $121 in intraday trading, and there are fears it could hit $150 before the end of the year. Vitol - the world's largest independent oil trader - told the Financial Times oil prices could spike to a record high above $150 a barrel. Ian Taylor, Vitol chief executive, said: "Geopolitical risk, especially in the Middle East, creates potential material risk to the upside." Hedge funds and other money managers increased their wagers on advancing oil prices by 14pc.