Factbox: Developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Here are some developments in BP Plc's Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest offshore oil disaster in U.S. history.

TOP DEVELOPMENTS

* BP Plc oil spill workers in the Gulf of Mexico prepared for a possible evacuation on Thursday as a brewing tropical storm threatened more delays in attempts to end the environmental disaster.

* Choppy seas from a tropical depression near the Bahamas prompted oil-skimming vessels in the Gulf of Mexico to come ashore Thursday, but BP Plc had not suspended major operations at the site of its massive oil spill.

MARKET IMPACT/COMPANIES

* Two of the world's top five oil rig contractors, Diamond and Ensco, are gearing up to buy more rigs as many seem even more likely to be sold due to the regulatory backlash over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.

* The lucrative tourism industry in the Gulf of Mexico could suffer for up to three years with $22.7 billion in lost revenue because of the largest oil spill in U.S. history, a travel group said on Thursday.

* An e-mail scam featuring someone purporting to be BP Plc's Chief Executive Tony Hayward is targeting victims of the company's massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Florida's attorney general said on Thursday.

* The two oil companies that are BP's partners in the now-capped oil well told Congress on Thursday they will not set aside money for cleanup costs along the Gulf Coast because it is BP's responsibility.

* BP will give an estimate for the total cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill next Tuesday when it unveils second-quarter profits that, were it not for the spill, would likely have risen 77 percent to $5 billion.

* Fitch Ratings says the announcement of BP's asset sales to Apache Corp is a positive development and will support BP's liquidity position.

* Big oil companies including Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell will spend $1 billion to develop a new oil spill containment system for the Gulf of Mexico, the companies said on Wednesday.

* New York and Ohio have asked a federal judge to appoint them lead plaintiffs to handle shareholder class-action lawsuits against BP Plc over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

* Indian state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp wants to buy BP's stake in an offshore Vietnam gas field, as Hanoi stressed BP must give priority to its partners in the sale of its energy assets.

* BP said it had spent $3.95 billion so far on efforts to tackle its leaking oil well and that it aims to permanently kill the well in the first half of August.

* BP shares closed up .03 percent in London while shares in New York closed up .28 percent on Thursday.

POLITICS/POLICY

* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Thursday he will unveil an energy bill next week that will implement offshore drilling reforms.

* A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused a request by environmental groups to reinstate the Obama administration's original moratorium on deepwater drilling enacted in the wake of the BP Plc oil spill.

* Scotland's most senior politician said on Wednesday there was no conspiracy in his country's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber, following U.S. questions over oil company BP's influence on the process.

CAPTURE/CONTAINMENT/CLEANUP

* Even if a storm causes an evacuation of the well site, the government will allow the well to remain sealed while the storm passes over, the government's oil spill point man said.

* The U.S. government gave BP permission to prepare to help plug its Gulf of Mexico oil leak with a "static kill," which would inject heavy mud and cement into the well to seal it, a BP executive said. [nWEN7581]

SPECIAL REPORTS

* It is a Thursday morning in early July and Thad Allen is ready to start his day. There are three states to visit, an oil company to challenge, and a cleanup process to inspect -- all in less than 12 hours.

(Compiled by Alyson Zepeda in Houston; editing by David Storey and Todd Eastham)