Sector Update: Energy Stocks Softer Tuesday Afternoon

01:59 PM EDT, 09/29/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell Tuesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index declining 1.1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) shedding 0.8%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index dropped 1.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index added 0.7%. West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.5% to $90.30 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent shed 1.8% to $103.44 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures lost 2.1% to $3.04 per 1 million BTU. In geopolitical news, President Donald Trump denied an Axios report that he had offered Tehran sanctions relief and to release Iran's frozen funds in return for concrete steps regarding the country's nuclear program. Iran's Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Gen. Hossein Mohebbi read a letter addressed to the "American people" during a Tuesday news conference, mentioning that the only way for the conflict to end is for the US government to admit defeat and leave, according to the Associated Press. In corporate news, Petrobras (PBR) agreed to buy 800,000 metric tons per year of liquefied natural gas from Cheniere Energy (LNG) subsidiary Cheniere Marketing for 22 years. Petrobras shares fell 0.8%, and Cheniere declined 0.6%. Shell (SHEL) said it made a final investment decision to expand LNG Canada in Kitimat, British Columbia, doubling the facility's production capacity to 28 million metric tons per annum. Shell shares fell 1.4%. SLB's (SLB) OneSubsea joint venture won a contract to deliver subsea production systems for the first phase of the offshore Rovuma LNG project in Mozambique. SLB shares fell 2.6%.