BP has received preliminary approval from a court in New Orleans for its estimated $7.8bn settlement with private sector plaintiffs over damages arising from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Judge Carl Barbier...ruled that the settlement agreed in principle by BP and the plaintiffs’ lawyers in March was “sufficiently fair, reasonable, adequate, and consistent with governing law to warrant...preliminary approval”. He set a date of November 8 for a “fairness hearing” to give final approval to the deal. BP is still facing claims from US federal, state and local governments for damages and penalties that could run into the tens of billions of dollars. [refers to Transocean, Halliburton]