Energy stocks were slightly higher late Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index adding 0.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was flat and the Dow Jones US Utilities Average fell 0.7%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.1% to $66.87 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent shed 0.8% to $70.53 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.1% to $4.06 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, KKR (KKR) held talks to buy TXNM Energy (TXNM), Bloomberg reported. The discussions were held in recent weeks, and no final decision has been made with KKR possibly opting not to proceed, the report said. TXNM shares rose 2.7%, and KKR was shedding 1.7%.

Sempra (SRE) shares were down 0.3% after Argus downgraded the utility company to hold from buy.

Natural Gas Services (NGS) shares fell past 8% after the company reported higher Q4 net income and revenue that still missed analysts' expectations.

Flowco (FLOC) reported Q4 earnings Tuesday of $2.23 per diluted share, down from $3.54 a year earlier. Net revenue for the quarter was $186 million, compared with $75.5 million a year earlier. Its shares rose 1.3%.