By Kristen Hays and Tom Bergin
HOUSTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Alex neared hurricane strength on Tuesday, with high winds and waves set to hamper BP Plc's efforts to contain more of the oil gushing from the largest spill in U.S. history.
The National Hurricane Centre said Alex would build into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season as it moved away from the Yucatan Peninsula over southern Gulf waters.
Offshore oil cleanup efforts off the coast of Louisiana were halted on Tuesday because of severe weather, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Kelly Parker said controlled burns of oil on the ocean, flights spraying dispersant chemicals and booming operations were all stopped. BP's oil-capture and relief well drilling continued.
Alex was expected to curl northwest away from major oil-extraction facilities. If so, existing oil capture systems at the BP oil spill could continue, as would drilling of a pair of relief wells intended to plug the leak by August.
But waves as high as 12 feet (4 metres) would delay plans to hook up a third system to capture much more oil, BP said. Officials in Florida say the high surf will also likely hamper clean-up efforts.
Shares in British-based energy giant BP had fallen in London on Tuesday after sources said the New York Federal Reserve was probing potential systemic risks posed by the company and it earlier had to deny Russian government claims it was planning to sack its chief executive.
But U.S.-listed shares of BP were 3.66 percent higher at $27.59 at midafternoon on Tuesday on bargain-hunting, after a sell-off the previous session.
"It's tough to say if the stock has bottomed because the political situation remains so fluid, but on a basis the stock is attractive," said John Brady, senior vice president at MF Global in Chicago.
BP's market capitalisation has shrunk by $100 billion (66.3 billion pounds) since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig sunk in 5,000 feet (1,525 metres) of water on April 22, two days after an explosion and fire killed 11 workers.
The oil spill crisis is in its 71st day with no firm end in sight. The economic and ecological costs to tourism, wildlife, fishing and other industries, already massive, continue to mount for four states along the U.S. Gulf coast.
U.S. government officials estimate 35,000 to 60,000 barrels gush from the blown-out well each day. BP's current containment system can handle up to 28,000 barrels daily. The planned addition would have raised that to 53,000 bpd.
HEADING TO GULF
Top U.S. officials continued to beat a path to the Gulf region, responding to criticism President Barack Obama and his administration responded too slowly to the crisis. Tuesday's visitors included Vice President Joe Biden.
A U.S. appeals court set July 8 for oral arguments on the Obama administration's request to stay a ruling that lifted its six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling.
A federal judge blocked it at the request of drilling companies, saying the suspension was too broad and arbitrary.
Polls have given Obama low marks for his handling of the disaster, although not as low as those given to BP.
"BP's handling of the spill from a crisis management perspective will go down in history as one of the great examples of how to make a situation worse by bad communications," said Michael Gordon, of New York-based crisis PR firm Group Gordon Strategic Communications.
Mistakes include downplaying the potential environmental damage, initially blaming others for the disaster and underestimating the amount of oil leaking, analysts say.
As crude oil and dispersants float on the surface of the Gulf, crews battle to keep filth off beaches and away from wildlife breeding grounds.
On Louisiana's Bay Baptiste, winds whipped waves up about a foot high (30 cm) and white caps were visible in the distance as the outer bands of Alex began to move into the region.
Several marshes sat only partially boom-protected, with oil coating the bottom part of reeds as crabs covered in crude scurried on nearby marsh islands.
The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and meteorologists predict this year will be very active, suggesting more problems for the oil spill clean-up effort.
In Biloxi, Mississippi, BP spokesman Richard Judy acknowledged problems with clean-up operations after the state's mainland was hit by oil on Sunday for the first time.
"What's keeping us busy in this area is maintaining boom, in some cases putting out new boom, doing pick-up of oiled material on the beaches when it gets there and also going out and working on the coastal islands," Judy said.
"Weather has been a problem. We have to be careful not to keep our crews on beaches if there's lightning nearby."
On a major tourist beach in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, parents and their children began digging up large patches of oil with sand toys and shovels on Monday after waiting for two hours for clean up crews to arrive.
"BP is obviously overwhelmed," said city alderman Matt McDonnell. "Community after community here and in Florida and Louisiana are all battling the same problem and crying for the same resources."
(Additional reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz in Mexico City, Ernest Scheyder in Nairn, Louisiana, Leigh Coleman in Ocean Springs, Mississippi and Joshua Schneyer and Ryan Vlastelica in New York; writing by Jerry Norton; Editing by Alan Elsner and Simon Denyer)
