Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Late Afternoon

04:00 PM EDT, 09/16/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 3.1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) dropping 2.8%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was shedding 3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index decreased 0.2%. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 3.7% to $101.89 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 3.2% to $105.27 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures declined 1% to $2.89 per 1 million BTU. US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 1.0 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 11 following a decrease of 1.6 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 600,000 barrels after a 400,000-barrel decline in the previous week, a smaller decline than the 1.5-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. In corporate news, National Fuel Gas (NFG) is exploring options for its integrated natural gas production business, Reuters reported. Any deal would value the unit at about $5 billion, the report said. Shares of the company were down 1.4%. Chord Energy (CHRD) said Wednesday it has agreed to sell gas-producing land assets to Posco International for $550 million. Chord Energy shares fell 6.3%. Exxon Mobil (XOM) won approval for its Rose carbon-capture project in Texas, allowing the company to move forward with the development, Bloomberg reported. Exxon Mobil shares were down 3.4%. Delixy (DLXY) said it has struck a non-binding letter of intent with Caog for the acquisition or merger of up to 48% of shares in Tarbagatay Munay, the subsoil user and operator of the oil and gas project of Sarybulak Oil Field in East Kazakhstan. Delixy shares surged 389%.