Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Tuesday

04:03 PM EDT, 08/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell Tuesday with the NYSE Energy Sector Index declining 1.1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) dropping 1.7%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index shed 0.6%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index rose 0.1%. In geopolitical news, Iran pledged to fight back against expanded US sanctions aimed at isolating its economy, expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist the pressure campaign and saying that Washington was keen to revive talks, Reuters reported. West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 3.2% to $82.28 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent dropped 4% to $88.53 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 0.3% to $2.84 per 1 million BTU. In corporate news, SLB (SLB) has received access to Venezuela's oilfield data following a contract signed between the company and the state-run Petroleos de Venezuela, Reuters reported. SLB shares declined 1.3%. Shell (SHEL) put its Aphrodite offshore gas project in Trinidad and Tobago on hold following commercial disagreements with the country's National Gas Co., Reuters reported. The shares eased 0.5%. Eni (E) is working with project partners BP (BP) and Egyptian Petroleum to reach a final investment decision in a few months regarding the major gas discovery Denise West in Egypt's Temsah concession. Eni shares fell 2.1%, and BP shed 2%. NuScale Power (SMR) shares jumped 8.2%. The company is deploying nuclear-specific AI tools from Nuclearn and NPX to support engineering and knowledge management as it advances its next-generation SMR program.