Energy stocks were lower late Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.4% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) shedding 0.8%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index increased 0.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was fractionally lower.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.2% to $94.59 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 1.2% to $99.13 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures gained 5.7% to $3.00 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Marathon Petroleum (MPC) shares were down 2.7% after Jefferies downgraded the company to hold from buy.