Energy stocks were rising late Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) were both up 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was shedding 0.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was advancing 1.1%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.1% at $69.07 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract eased less than 0.1% to $71.95 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures dropped 2.3% to $2.30 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Eni (E) is looking at selling a minority stake in its renewable and retail business unit Plenitude and is in talks with several funds for a deal, Reuters reported Friday. Eni shares rose over 1%.

Petrobras (PBR) plans to invest 20 billion reais ($3.6 billion) in a Rio de Janeiro complex with a refinery and a plant to produce derivatives, Bloomberg reported Friday. Petrobras shares added nearly 1%.

Shell (SHEL) said that it's ramping up production at its Mars, Vito, Ursa, Olympus, and Appomattox platforms as it resolved downstream issues after Hurricane Francine passed through the Gulf of Mexico. Shell shares were up 0.6%.

TC Energy (TRP) will compensate investors of the CA$1 billion ($736.1 million) Aspen Investments bond transaction after the deal fell through, Bloomberg reported Friday. TC Energy shares added almost 1%.