01:45 PM EDT, 09/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) shedding 0.9%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index eased 0.4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index gained 0.1%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.4% to $69.37 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent shed 1.3% to $72.83 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures dropped 3% to $2.137 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Targa Resources ( TRGP ) rejected Williams' (WMB) informal takeover interest in recent months, Bloomberg reported. Targa shares fell 1.8% and Williams dropped 2.5%.

Noble (NE) completed its acquisition of Diamond Offshore Drilling ( DO ) , expanding its position among offshore drilling companies and adding about $2 billion of backlog. Noble shares rose 0.4%.

Transocean ( RIG ) secured a $123 million drillship contract from Reliance Industries for the Dhirubhai Deepwater KG1 project, covering six wells offshore India. Transocean ( RIG ) shares fell 0.6%.