Lawyers for as many as 10,000 potential plaintiffs pursuing claims over BP Plc’s 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill said their clients today will opt out or reject the company’s $7.8 billion settlement reached in March…The agreement, which settled claims of most private party plaintiffs, covers hundreds of thousands of individuals, businesses and property owners who say they were harmed by the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Plaintiffs included in the settlement faced a deadline today to choose to accept the terms of the agreement or pursue claims on their own...The blowout and explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig killed 11 workers and started millions of barrels of crude leaking into the gulf. The accident prompted hundreds of lawsuits against BP; Transocean Ltd., the Vernier, Switzerland-based owner and operator of the rig; and Halliburton Co., which provided cementing services. [also refers to Anadarko, Mitsui]