General Motors Corp. shares took the biggest loss on the Dow Jones industrial average Friday, following a jump in oil prices and a surprise rise in home construction.

Stocks finished little changed on Friday as surging oil prices lifted energy shares and offset data that showed consumer confidence sank to its lowest in 28 years.

By Caroline Valetkevitch

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

General Motors Corp. shares took the largest midday loss on the Dow Jones industrial average Friday, giving back some of their Thursday gains.

Another proxy advisory firm on Thursday recommended shareholders vote to split the top leadership roles at Exxon Mobil Corp., joining a growing chorus of dissidents calling for change at the world's largest publicly traded oil company.

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.

CEO compensation at the biggest U.S. corporations dropped sharply last year, reflecting in part the rough business conditions at top-tier banks and other large financial firms, a study has found.

By Martha Graybow

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.

Imperial Oil Ltd. failed Wednesday to get a judge to reinstate a key water permit to build a $8 billion oil sands mine in Northern Alberta.

Despite contributing to massive, multibillion profits in recent quarters, record crude prices are not helping the world's big oil companies on many fronts, including some efforts to find more fossil fuel, the chief of ConocoPhillips said Wednesday.

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.

Rockefeller family members and other shareholders pushing to split the top leadership roles at Exxon Mobil Corp. gained another ally Tuesday when a proxy advisory firm came out in support of the effort.