Energy stocks were lower Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) each shedding 0.3%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was rising 1.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was down 0.78%.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.7% to $82.80 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract advanced 0.8% to $87.67 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures added 0.8% to $2.87 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, BP (BP) is in exclusive talks with Energean to sell some of its upstream oil and gas assets in Egypt, Reuters reported. BP shares were down 0.9%.