03:56 PM EDT, 05/22/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks advanced late Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index increasing 0.3% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) adding 0.6%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was shedding 0.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was up 0.8%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.4% to $96.77 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract rose 1.3% to $103.93 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 3.6% to $2.91 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and OKX said Friday that they are collaborating to launch perpetual futures contracts tied to oil benchmarks. The new perpetual futures contracts will be underpinned by Intercontinental Exchange's Brent Crude and WTI Crude energy benchmarks, the companies said.

In corporate news, American Resources' ( AREC ) minority holding ReElement Technologies formed a joint venture with Posco International to build rare earth and permanent magnet production facilities in the US, the company said Friday. American Resources ( AREC ) shares were down 0.2%.

Matador Resources ( MTDR ) shares added 1.2% after the company said Thursday it acquired 5,154 net undeveloped acres in the Delaware Basin for about $1.14 billion in a recent Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease sale.

TotalEnergies (TTE) is considering selling a 50% stake in a portfolio of European renewable energy assets, Bloomberg reported. TotalEnergies shares were down 0.7%.

Frontline ( FRO ) shares fell 3.5% after the company reported Q1 adjusted earnings below analyst expectations.