(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is poised to sell half of its emergency oil reserves to help pay its bills, something critics say defies the reason the stockpile was created decades ago as a hedge against supply disruptions.

KIRKUK, Iraq, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Iraqi forces launched a security operation along a planned oil transit route to Iran on Wednesday, saying it was clearing and "destroying sleeper cells" in the mountainous border area where two armed groups operate.

OSLO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Norway's Statoil will raise its dividend, investments and exploration spending in 2018, it said on Wednesday, after beating fourth-quarter earnings forecasts helped by higher oil prices.

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s new 1.5 million ton-per-year ethane cracker at its Baytown, Texas, complex is mechanically complete and commissioning is “progressing well,” the BOP Blow Out Preventer repair company gulf coast said Tuesday.

(Bloomberg) -- The United Arab Emirates, a model Persian Gulf petro-state where endless billions from crude exports feed a giant sovereign wealth fund, isn’t the most obvious customer for Texan oil.

Feb 7 (Reuters) - Oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum Corp said on Wednesday it increased its quarterly dividend and also raised its share buyback program, amidst an improving environment for the U.S.

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell to a one-month low on Wednesday after U.S. data showed a build in inventories and record high crude production, raising worries of more selling that could expose speculators with big bets on upward momentum in crude prices.

The Forties Pipeline System (FPS) is safe, an Ineos spokesperson has confirmed.

CNOOC Limited announced Tuesday that the Stampede field, located in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, has commenced production.

The field has a processing capacity of approximately 80,000 barrels of oil per day, 40 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, and 100,000 barrels of water injection capacity per day, according to CNOOC.