Factbox: Developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

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

TOP DEVELOPMENTS

* BP's blown-out Macondo well could be contained -- but not plugged -- by Sunday or Monday, when a new cap and seal designed to capture more crude oil is installed on top of the well, the U.S. official overseeing the spill cleanup said on Friday.

* The Obama administration promised on Friday it would announce a new deepwater oil drilling moratorium shortly.

* Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc is pulling one of its deepwater rigs out of the Gulf of Mexico, in the first such move resulting from uncertainties surrounding a U.S. moratorium on deepwater drilling.

* The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against the administration's request to stay a lower court decision lifting the six-month drilling ban, saying the government failed to show how it would be irreparably harmed if a stay were not granted.

CAPTURE/CONTAINMENT/CLEANUP

* BP said on Friday it was hooking up a third vessel to increase oil-capture capacity at the Gulf of Mexico spill to 53,000 barrels a day from 28,000 barrels a day.

* Two relief wells represent the only proven deepwater technology at BP's disposal to kill a relentless oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. But there is a backup plan -- a seabed pipeline that could route the oil to a nearby floating platform or to an unused well where it could be injected deep underground.

* BP said on Friday its oil-capture systems at the leak collected or burned off 24,395 barrels of oil on Thursday.

MARKET IMPACT/COMPANIES

* Anadarko Petroleum Corp, which owns 25 percent of the ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico, has told BP that, for now, it will not pay a $272 million bill from the British oil company to cover cleanup costs.

* BP shares traded in New York closed up nearly 1 percent. Shares traded in London have rallied 20 percent from their June 29 low but closed down less than 1 percent.

* BP shares had lost around half of their value since the spill started after an oil rig exploded in the Gulf in late April, killing 11 men.

POLITICS/POLICY

* BP has responded to a U.S. government request to lay out a timeline for placing a new cap on its blown-out well, retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said on Friday.

* Suspected targets in the criminal investigation into the Gulf Coast oil spill may cover more than BP, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday.

* Florida Governor Charlie Crist called on Thursday for a special state Legislature session to consider a constitutional amendment to strengthen the ban on oil drilling off Florida's coast.

(Compiled by Alyson Zepeda in Houston; Editing by Peter Cooney)