02:05 PM EDT, 05/19/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.5% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) adding 0.9%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was falling 0.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index rose 0.6%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was fractionally lower at $108.62 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was dropping 1.1% to $110.83 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.5% to $3.10 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, President Donald Trump threatened to resume strikes on Iran in the coming days as part of the push for a deal to end the war, after he said he had just called off a US attack, Bloomberg reported. "I hope we don't have to do the war, but we may have to give them another big hit," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. When asked how long he would wait, he said: "Well, I mean, I'm saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Something maybe early next week -- a limited period of time."

Separately, NATO is considering helping ships pass through the Strait of Hormuz if it doesn't get unblocked by early July, Bloomberg reported, citing a senior official in the military alliance.

In corporate news, Cenovus Energy's (CVE) addition of MEG Energy's Christina Lake asset to its portfolio late last year has created a huge in-situ oil sands complex which should yield synergistic development opportunities for decades to come, RBC Capital Markets said in a note. Cenovus shares rose 0.1%.

Equinor ( EQNR ) shares gained 2.5% after it said it signed a five-year agreement with Dutch energy provider Eneco to supply natural gas from the Norwegian continental shelf.

BP (BP) maintained the lockout at its Whiting refinery in Indiana after failing to reach a deal with the United Steelworkers, or USW, Local 7-1, the company said. BP shares were up 0.6%.