-- Energy stocks rose Thursday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index gaining 1% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) climbing 0.8%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index advanced 0.5%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index rose 1.3%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.4% to $104.37 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent dropped 3.5% to $113.93 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 3.9% to $2.75 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Apollo Global Management (APO), Blackstone (BX) and KKR (KKR) are among the final bidders for a major stake in Shell's (SHEL) LNG Canada project in a deal that could top $10 billion and reach as much as $15 billion, Reuters reported. Shell shares rose 1.3%.