As the price of crude oil again hit all-time highs, U.S.-traded shares of several European oil and gas companies followed suit.

Following is a summary of top stories in the energy sector Friday afternoon.

BP America spent $2.6 million to lobby on oil and gas production and exploration, as well as foreign trade agreements and other issues in the first quarter of the year.

Natural gas in storage in the U.S. rose last week and is 0.2 percent above the five-year average for this time of year, a government report said Thursday.

The lawyers aren't clearing their calendars just yet, but the oil industry is bracing for some courtroom battles to maintain its stake in Alaska's oil-rich fields now that the Interior Department has listed polar bears as a threatened species.

BP PLC said Wednesday a small oil leak occurred while a worker was trying to bring a well back online earlier this week at the nation's largest oil field.

Crude-oil inventories rose last week for the fourth straight time, while gasoline stockpiles fell after an unexpected jump in the prior period, according to government data released Wednesday.

Government data released Wednesday is expected to show that crude-oil inventories rose last week for the fourth straight period and that gasoline stockpiles fell.

Spain's Repsol YPF became the latest oil company to post fat profits from soaring crude prices, reporting Tuesday that first-quarter profits jumped 37 percent.

Power has been restored to processing centers at Prudhoe Bay, but the nation's most prolific oil field still won't be at full production for several days.

Oil production at Prudhoe Bay, the nation's most prolific oil field, halted on Friday when a vehicle clearing snowdrifts damaged the power supply to processing centers.

Major oil companies' multimillion-dollar payment to 153 public water systems to cleanse wells of a potentially carcinogenic gasoline additive could grow if more tainted wells are discovered over the next 30 years.

Federal prosecutors violated the rights of victims of a deadly 2005 explosion at a BP PLC plant when they didn't consult them about a plea agreement to settle criminal conduct in connection with the blast, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.

French oil company Total SA said Wednesday its first-quarter net profit jumped 18 percent amid record-high energy prices.

The government on Tuesday again raised its short-term price forecasts for crude oil and gasoline — trends that are expected to tamp down demand.