Sector Update: Energy Stocks Decline Tuesday Afternoon

01:49 PM EST, 11/03/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower Tuesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) each declining 0.2%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index dropped 0.6%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index fell marginally. In geopolitical news, Iran and the US are reviewing the latest proposals from mediators on how to resolve their differences and avoid a return to all-out war, Bloomberg reported, citing a diplomat briefed on the matter. West Texas Intermediate crude oil shed 0.5% to $95.97 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent declined 1.2% to $103.49 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose nearly 1% to $2.88 per 1 million BTU. In corporate news, Marathon Petroleum (MPC) and MPLX (MPLX) agreed to sell their refineries in St. Paul Park, Minnesota, and Mandan, North Dakota, along with related midstream assets, to CVR Energy (CVI) for $4.2 billion plus inventory value. Marathon will receive $3.45 billion for the refining assets, excluding inventory value, while MPLX will get $750 million for the related midstream assets. CVR Energy also said Tuesday it has started an underwritten public offering of $750 million of shares. Marathon shares fell 0.1%, MPLX declined 2%, and CVR Energy fell past 13%. Shell (SHEL) Australia agreed to sell its roughly 17% non-operated interest in the North West Shelf project in Western Australia to XRG subsidiaries for a base consideration of $1.45 billion, plus a milestone-based payment, Shell said Tuesday. Its shares were down 0.7%. TotalEnergies (TTE) has agreed to buy up to 1.6 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas from Adnoc Gas under a five-year supply deal, Adnoc said Tuesday. TotalEnergies shares added 0.2%.