Sector Update: Energy Stocks Lower in Afternoon Trading

01:55 PM EDT, 09/04/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks declined Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.6% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) shedding 0.8%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was falling 1.5%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was 0.4% lower. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil shed 0.4% to $90.97 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract rose 0.2% to $95.74 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures added 1.6% to $2.96 per 1 million BTU. In corporate news, Shell (SHEL) and Equinor's (EQNR) Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea is expected to receive UK government approval for new drilling this month, news outlets reported Friday. Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded Shell to overweight from equalweight and lifted its price target to $101.30 from $81.60. Shell shares were up 1%, while Equinor was shedding 1.2%. TotalEnergies (TTE) shares were down 0.8% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to equalweight from overweight. Dominion Energy (D) shareholders have given consent to the company to proceed with the planned merger with NextEra Energy (NEE), according to regulatory filings Thursday. Dominion shares were shedding 0.5%, and NextEra was down 0.8%.