03:57 PM EDT, 10/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell late Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index shedding 1.3% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) decreasing 1.6%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index fell 1.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was down 0.7%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 1.3% to $57.51 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent fell 1.3% to $61.10 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures dropped 2.9% to $2.93 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 4.3 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a rise of 4 million in the previous week. Excluding SPR inventories, commercial crude oil stocks rose 3.5 million after a gain of 3.7 million in the previous week, against a drop of 1.2 million expected in a Bloomberg survey.

US natural gas stocks rose by 80 billion cubic feet in the week ended Friday, below the 81 billion rise expected in a Bloomberg survey, and following the gain of 80 billion in the previous week.

In corporate news, Halliburton ( HAL ) said it has executed the first operation using its enhanced remotely operated control system and Optime tubing hanger orientation system in the Norwegian Continental Shelf, in a collaboration with Norway's Aker BP. Halliburton ( HAL ) shares fell 3.1%.

Energy Transfer ( ET ) shares retreated 1.3%. The company delayed its final investment decision for the planned Lake Charles LNG export project in Louisiana to Q1 2026, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

American Electric Power ( AEP ) shares were down 0.6%. The firm said Thursday its AEP Transmission unit closed a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office to upgrade nearly 5,000 miles of transmission lines in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia.

Diversified Energy ( DEC ) shares fell 1.6% after the company and West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey said they have entered into a partnership to establish a financial assurance fund for retiring oil and gas wells.