03:15 PM EDT, 05/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were declining late Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.9% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) falling 1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was shedding 1.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index fell 1.5%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.8% to $76.92 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent fell 0.6% to $81.41 a barrel.

US natural-gas stocks rose by 78 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 17, a smaller gain than the 85 billion increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following an increase of 70 billion cubic feet in the previous week. Stocks at 2.711 trillion cubic feet are 17.4% higher than in the comparable week a year ago and 28.8% above their five-year average.

Henry Hub natural-gas futures tumbled 5.4% to $2.69 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, NextEra Energy Partners ( NEP ) shares tumbled almost 8% as JPMorgan downgraded the company to underweight from neutral with a $25 price target.