DOW JONES NEWSWIRES A federal appeals court in New Orleans on Thursday rejected the U.S. government's effort to maintain a six-month ban on deepwater drilling for oil, the Associated Press reports. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled soon after an afternoon hearing on a lawsuit filed by companies that oppose the moratorium. The Interior Department had argued that the moratorium was necessary while it studied deepwater drilling risks in the wake of the BP PLC (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The moratorium was previously struck down by a lower court on June 22. The appeals court found that the Interior Department failed to show the federal government would suffer "irreparable injury" if the ban wasn't immediately restored while it appeals the lower court's decision. The AP's report was initially mentioned by Fox Business Network. Full story at http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GULF_OIL_SPILL_MORATORIUM?SITE=FLDAY&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT -Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2900 Order free Annual Report for BP plc Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=BP or call 1-888-301-0513 Order free Annual Report for Transocean Inc. Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=RIG or call 1-888-301-0513 (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 08, 2010 19:09 ET (23:09 GMT)