Oil and gas giant British Petroleum will pay over 20 billion US Dollars to the American government as damages over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the largest environmental settlement in US history as well as the largest-ever civil settlement with a single entity. A US judge yesterday approved the settlement deal, resolving years of litigation over the worst offshore spill in the nation's history.The settlement, first announced in July, includes penalties to cover environmental damage and other claims by the five Gulf states and local governments. The US Judge , who approved the settlement, had set the stage with an earlier ruling that British Petroleum had been grossly negligent in the offshore rig explosion that killed 11 workers and caused a 134-million-gallon spill.