U.S. judge approves BP agreement for Gulf oil spill

Jan 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has accepted an agreement by BP Plc to plead guilty for its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster and pay $4.5 billion in penalties for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The April 2010 explosion on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico killed 11 workers. The mile-deep (1.6 km) Macondo oil well then spewed 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf over 87 days, fouling shorelines from Texas to Florida.

"The judge has accepted the plea," a court official said on Tuesday.