Sector Update: Energy Stocks Lower in Afternoon Trading

01:44 PM EDT, 08/27/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were softer 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%. In the Middle East, about 6 million to 8 million barrels a day of crude oil are now being shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, Bloomberg reported, citing estimates from traders monitoring cargo activity. Flows slipped in July, when an onslaught of Iran's attacks on supertankers led to the breakdown of an interim ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran and heightened risks to navigation, the news report said, adding that flows remain at roughly half prewar levels. Meanwhile, Qatar's Foreign Ministry said Iran and Qatar discussed an agreement to implement a "joint project" to clear mines from the Strait of Hormuz as well as "efforts to reduce escalation and create appropriate conditions for dialogue," according to a report from Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern broadcaster. 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 sector news, US natural gas stocks rose by 15 billion cubic feet in the week ended Aug. 21, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following an increase of 16 billion cubic feet in the previous week. 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 0.8%. Enbridge (ENB) has entered into a definitive agreement with KKR (KKR) to form a joint venture that will invest about $2.7 billion Canadian dollars ($1.94 billion) to fund the expansion of the Aspen Point and Sunrise programs on the Westcoast natural gas pipeline system, the company said Thursday. Enbridge shares declined 0.9%. Canadian Solar (CSIQ) has hired Guggenheim Securities to help it evaluate strategic options for its Recurrent Energy unit, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Canadian Solar shares fell 1.1%. T1 Energy (TE) shares jumped past 6% after it said Thursday that local officials in Mo i Rana, Norway, have rezoned part of the company's Giga Arctic campus for the development of a data center.