Factbox: Developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

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

TOP DEVELOPMENTS

* A relief well intended to plug BP Plc's gushing Gulf of Mexico oil leak is still weeks from completion, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told U.S. lawmakers, as the season's first Atlantic hurricane disrupted cleanup efforts.

* BP kept oil-capture and relief-well drilling operations going at its Gulf of Mexico deep-sea leak despite rough seas and high winds spawned by Hurricane Alex.

HURRICANE ALEX

* Hurricane Alex picked up strength in the Gulf of Mexico as it headed for land, flooding parts of the Mexican coast but staying clear of oil fields to the relief of crude markets.

SPECIAL REPORT

* The BP oil spill has been a gusher for lawyers, with the accident expected to lead to lengthy litigation.

MARKET IMPACT/COMPANIES

* BP's stock was up over 5 percent in London on Wednesday, with traders citing renewed talk that it could encourage a bid from Exxon Mobil, and up over 4 percent in New York.

* BP's shares have lost over 50 percent of their value since the oil spill started after an oil rig exploded in the Gulf in April.

POLITICS/POLICY

* U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he is working hard to finalize a new moratorium on deep-water offshore drilling that would affect exploratory wells at 500 feet or deeper after a federal court blocked the Obama administration's previously announced six-month ban. Salazar would not say when the new moratorium would be issued.

* The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted to eliminate limits on liability that oil companies would face for oil spill damages. The measure now goes before the full Senate. It also would need to win passage in the House of Representatives before becoming law.

* Oil companies currently have a $75 million cap for compensating local communities for economic losses and cleaning up environmental damage. The change, if approved and enacted into law, would apply retroactively to BP.

* Senior U.S. government officials will meet with President Barack Obama on Thursday to review the Gulf of Mexico oil spill situation and containment plans going forward, the Coast Guard said.

ENVIRONMENT

* Initial tests of the dispersant BP is using to break up oil in the Gulf of Mexico show that it does not harm endocrine systems in aquatic life, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said.

* Environmental groups filed suit against BP seeking to halt controlled burnings of spilled oil on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico because they say endangered sea turtles are being burned alive in the process.

BP

* The U.S. Department of Interior said it fined BP a civil penalty of $5.2 million for submitting "false, inaccurate, or misleading" reports for energy output on tribal lands in Colorado.

OIL SPILL CAPTURE/CONTAINMENT/CLEANUP

* BP said on Wednesday that its oil-capture systems at the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico collected or burned off 25,220 barrels of oil on Tuesday.

* An undetermined amount of oil continues to billow out from under the cap and through vents on top into the sea. A team of U.S. scientists estimate that the leak is gushing up to 60,000 barrels a day.