BP Plc must face hundreds of lawsuits in federal court in New Orleans because the city is closest to the site of the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history, a panel of judges ruled.…U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier will preside over more than 300 suits, including wrongful-death claims by families of workers killed in the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. Claims also cover revenue lost by Gulf Coast businesses and environmental damage…BP investors’ suits over losses tied to the spill will go to federal court in Houston. Barbier today set Sept. 17 for an initial conference for organizing the lawsuits in his court.