Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Late Afternoon

04:03 PM EST, 11/03/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower late Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index shedding 0.5% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) down 0.7%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index fell 0.9%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was down 0.6%. West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.1% to $96.58 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent eased 0.5% to $104.26 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.5% to $2.90 per 1 million BTU. In sector news, the Trump administration is negotiating with Venezuela on an agreement that could allow a long-term US military presence in the South American country, The New York Times reported Tuesday, citing US officials. 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 decreased 0.5%, MPLX declined 2.5%, and CVR Energy fell nearly 13%. Pinnacle West Capital (PNW) shares rose 1.3% after it reported better-than-expected Q3 results. 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 edged 0.1% lower.