03:45 PM EDT, 03/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were slightly higher late Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index adding 0.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was flat and the Dow Jones US Utilities Average fell 0.7%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.1% to $66.87 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent shed 0.8% to $70.53 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.1% to $4.06 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, KKR (KKR) held talks to buy TXNM Energy ( TXNM ) , Bloomberg reported. The discussions were held in recent weeks, and no final decision has been made with KKR possibly opting not to proceed, the report said. TXNM shares rose 2.7%, and KKR was shedding 1.7%.

Sempra ( SRE ) shares were down 0.3% after Argus downgraded the utility company to hold from buy.

Natural Gas Services ( NGS ) shares fell past 8% 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 was $186 million, compared with $75.5 million a year earlier. Its shares rose 1.3%.