03:16 PM EDT, 08/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks declined late Friday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index dropped 1.4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index added 0.3%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 3.2% to $73.45 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 1.4% to $78.80 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures eased 0.1% to $2.13 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Excelerate Energy ( EE ) shares fell 7.6% as Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to underweight from equalweight and trimmed its price target by $1 to $19.