Sector Update: Energy Stocks Lower in Afternoon Trading

01:57 PM EDT, 09/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were softer Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.6% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) easing 0.2%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was falling 0.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index dropped 1.1%. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1% to $100.86 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 1.1% to $103.66 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures increased 0.3% to $2.91 per 1 million BTU. In sector news, European refiners may not be allocated any crude oil next month after Saudi Arabia's main pipeline to the Red Sea was attacked, Bloomberg reported. In corporate news, TotalEnergies (TTE) partnered with BlackRock-owned (BLK) Global Infrastructure Partners to manage its African oil and gas infrastructure assets, the energy major said. Under the deal, GIP will invest $1.8 billion for a stake in some of TotalEnergies' midstream infrastructure assets in Africa, it said. TotalEnergies shares were down 1%. BP (BP) Developments Australia has agreed to sell a 5% stake in the Browse liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia to Osaka Gas Browse, Osaka Gas said. Shares were 1.6% lower. Equinor (EQNR) signed a long-term agreement with Thailand's PTT Trading to supply liquefied natural gas, Reuters reported. Equinor shares were shedding 0.5%. Ecopetrol (EC) board has appointed Carlos Augusto Suarez Rojas as chairman and Claudia Margarita Lafaurie Taboada as vice chair, the company said. Ecopetrol shares were up 0.8%. Petrobras' (PBR) unit Petrobras Netherlands signed production sharing contracts for eight offshore exploration blocks in Cote d'Ivoire, the company said Thursday. Shares were down 0.5%.