FACTBOX-Developments in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

July 28 (Reuters) - Here are some developments in BP Plc's (BP.L) (BP.N) Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the largest offshore oil disaster in U.S. history.

TOP DEVELOPMENTS

* BP may permanently shut the well as early as Monday, the company said on Wednesday as speculation grew over the assets it might sell to cover mounting costs. [ID:nLDE66R0YO]

MARKET IMPACT/COMPANIES

* Heightened caution following the BP oil spill is prompting oil and gas producers in the Gulf of Mexico to shut down production faster as storms threaten, exacerbating energy price volatility this hurricane season [ID:nN28190698].

* Water treatment services company Nalco Holding Co NLC.N said it raised 2010 full-year outlook solely based on its dispersant sales to BP and the U.S. government for oil spill-related clean up in the Gulf of Mexico. [ID:nSGE66R0LJ]

* BP Plc is in talks with India's Reliance Industries (RELI.BO) and Essar Group to sell its African retail assets that could be worth as much as $500 million, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. [ID:nSGE66R0IH]

* BP Indonesia, a unit of BP plc, on Wednesday said there was no change to its strategy or plans in Southeast Asia's biggest economy and that it wants to expand and find new opportunities in Indonesia. [ID:nJAK392665]

* To many Gulf Coast residents, five words doomed BP Plc's outgoing chief executive Tony Hayward: 'I'd like my life back.' On the day that BP announced that Hayward would step down on Oct. 1, to be replaced by U.S.-born Bob Dudley, Gulf Coast residents offered few kind words for Hayward. [ID:nJAK392665]

* Protesters from environmental group Greenpeace disabled some of BP's 50 petrol stations in central London on Tuesday in protest at the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. [ID:nLDE66Q0U3]

* BP shares were down .86 percent in London while shares in New York were fell nearly 1 percent on Wednesday.

POLITICS/POLICY

* Several U.S. government agencies are preparing a criminal probe of at least three companies involved in the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, though it could take more than a year before any charges are filed, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. [ID:nN28111600]

* The top official overseeing the response to BP Plc's Gulf of Mexico oil leak said on Tuesday he doesn't expect the company's commitment to be diminished with its change in leadership. [ID:nN27108450]

* Texas pollution regulators have asked the Texas attorney general's office to probe a 40-day period of excess pollution in April and May at BP Plc's giant Texas City, Texas, refinery, a spokesman said on Tuesday. [ID:nN27123871]

* U.S. Senate Democrats officially unveiled on Tuesday energy legislation to implement offshore drilling reforms and promote natural gas-powered vehicles that Democrats want the Senate to pass before lawmakers leave for their summer break next week. [ID:nWNA6485]

* BP Plc said U.S. markets regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice had launched a probe into market trading connected to the oil giant's Gulf of Mexico oil spill. [ID:nN2795810]

* Attorneys hoping to lead the legal fight against BP Plc will descend on the unlikely venue of Boise, Idaho, this week as a special judicial panel considers how to bring order to a wave of spill-related lawsuits. [ID:nN27268402]

CAPTURE/CONTAINMENT/CLEANUP

* Hundreds of contractors and thousands of workers are swarming over the U.S. Gulf Coast, hoping to cash in on the oil spill. [ID:nN27134847] (Compiled by Alyson Zepeda in Houston, editing by Anthony Boadle)