Sector Update: Energy Stocks Rise in Afternoon Trading

MT newswire2026/10/09 17:54

01:54 PM EDT, 10/09/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose Friday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index climbing 0.3% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) edging up 0.1%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index eased 0.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index added 0.5%. West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 0.3% to $91.20 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent shed 0.4% to $103.88 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.8% to $3.23 per 1 million BTU. In corporate news, Equinor (EQNR) agreed to sell a 30% stake in the Bay du Nord offshore oil project in Canada to Shell (SHEL). Equinor will retain a 70% stake and continue as the project's operator. Equinor shares rose 0.7%, and Shell added 0.2%. BP (BP) said Friday it has shut in production and evacuated all personnel from its Na Kika and Thunder Horse platforms in the Gulf of America as it monitors Hurricane Isaias. Separately, Shell said Thursday it halted production at its Mars, Ursa, Olympus, and Vito assets in the Gulf of America while tracking Hurricane Isaias. BP shares were down 0.2%. ExxonMobil (XOM) blocked a proposal by partners in Kazakhstan's Kashagan oil field to settle a disputed $5.2 billion environmental fine, Bloomberg reported. ExxonMobil later persuaded TotalEnergies (TTE) to oppose the proposal, giving the two companies enough support to block the settlement, the report said. Exxon shares were up 0.2%, and TotalEnergies rose 1%.

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