03:25 PM EDT, 05/03/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell late Friday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) shedding 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector and the Dow Jones US Utilities index both gained 0.3%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 1.2% to $78.01 a barrel, while the global benchmark Brent crude contract dropped 1% to $82.82 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures jumped 5.9% to $2.15 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) is looking into the possibility of a sale of a portion of its operations in the Permian Basin that might be valued at more than $1 billion, Reuters reported Friday. Occidental shares fell 0.7%.