(adds historic detail)
** Oil and gas producer's U.S.-listed shares up 4.7pct at $41.10
** Reaches $18.7 billion settlement with U.S. and affectedstate governments to settle damages claim from Gulf of Mexicooil spill in 2010
** The settlement could be the largest with a single entityin U.S. history, the U.S. Justice Department said
** Over 725k ADRs traded on the New York Stock Exchange,more than double their full-day average trading volume
** Up to Wednesday's close, the U.S.-listed shares have lost36 percent from April 20, 2010, the day of the rig explosionthat killed 11 workers and spewed millions of barrels of oilonto U.S. shorelines
** BP's London-listed shares up as much as 5.3 pct at 441.45pence, with nearly 48 million shares traded