01:58 PM EDT, 03/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) each shedding 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index declined 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index fell 0.4%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 0.7% to $66.88 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was shedding 0.5% to $70.68 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.3% to $4.11 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Sempra ( SRE ) shares were shedding 0.4% after Argus downgraded the utility company to hold from buy.

Natural Gas Services ( NGS ) shares fell past 10% after the company reported higher Q4 net income and revenue that still missed analysts' expectations.

Flowco ( FLOC ) reported Q4 earnings Tuesday of $2.23 per diluted share, down from $3.54 a year earlier. Net revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $186 million, compared with $75.5 million a year earlier. Its shares rose 3.1%.