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

* An approaching storm in the Gulf of Mexico will delay BP Plc's work on a relief well, the final step in permanently killing the source of the world's worst offshore oil spill, by two to three days, the top U.S. spill official said on Tuesday.

MARKET IMPACT/COMPANIES

* Crude oil output in the Gulf of Mexico should fall an average of 120,000 barrels per day next year mostly due to the six-month drilling moratorium, the top U.S. oil forecaster said on Tuesday.

* The massive cleanup effort in the Gulf of Mexico following the oil spill is helping to offset some of the economic impact on affected states, Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday.

* The White House oil spill commission has asked the Interior Department to provide details on whether any rigs covered by the agency's blanket deepwater drilling ban are safe enough to resume operations.

* Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production said on Tuesday it was looking at BP's assets in Vietnam but had not appointed financial advisers for any plan to bid for them.

* BP shares closed down 3.1 percent in London and shares in New York closed down 1.8 percent on Tuesday.

POLITICS/POLICY

* A New Orleans federal judge will oversee a swath of civil lawsuits brought by injured oil rig workers, commercial fishermen and others stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

* Angola, which rivals Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer, is working with oil firms to increase security in the sector after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Oil Minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos said.

* As BP Plc works on plugging up its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, lawyers are gearing up to handle the barrage of spill-related cases.

(Compiled by Alyson Zepeda in Houston, Editing by Stacey Joyce)