Chevron weighs on Dow as energy stocks drop

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � Energy stocks succumbed to losses on Monday after spending much of the day in positive territory, as oil major Chevron Corp. weighed on the sector.

Red ink built up after data showed an unexpected downturn in U.S. manufacturing and as haggling over the fiscal cliff continued in Washington.

Chevron Corp. CVX �dropped 1%, becoming the fourth-worst performer among the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA .

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Fellow DJIA component Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM fell 0.6%.�

Utility stocks, which have been hit by jitters over increases in dividend tax rates, also fell.

Exelon Corp. EXC � dropped 3% as one of the worst performers in the S&P 500 Index.

Edison International EIX �dipped 0.8% after Bernstein downgraded the company to market perform from outperform.

Also moving lower, Xcel Energy Inc. XEL �fell 0.4% and Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. PEG �dipped 0.8%.

Among the major benchmarks in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil Index XX:XOI �fell 0.6% and the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index XX:XNG �moved down fractionally. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index OSX �dipped 0.7%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE , which tracks energy stocks in the S&P 500, fell 0.6%.

Reuters A Repsol oil refinery in Spain.

Among stocks in the spotlight, McMoRan Exploration Co. MMR �rose 2.2%. The company said flow to its Davy Jones well in the shallow water of the Gulf of Mexico was believed to be restricted by skin or formation damage. It has seen limited success from its efforts to fix the problem.

On the deal radar, Noble Energy Inc. NBL �inked a new pact with Australia�s Woodside Petroleum Ltd. AU:WPL �to develop liquid-natural-gas (LNG) production from the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean Sea.

Woodside will initially pay $696 million to Noble Energy and its partners for a 30% stake in two petroleum licenses, plus additional payments of about $550 million. Woodside could also make revenue-sharing payments of up to $1 billion a year, depending on the price levels of the LNG.

Shares of Noble Energy dropped 1.5%.

PBF Energy to raise $429 million in IPO

PBF Energy Inc. on Monday set an estimated price range of $25 to $27 a share in the upcoming initial public offering from the Parsippany, N.J., refinery operator.

With 16.5 million shares in the IPO, PBF Energy will raise $429 million in the deal, based on the midpoint of its projected price range.

PBF Energy plans to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PBF. The company is owned in part by affiliates of private-equity firms Blackstone Group L.P. BX �and First Reserve Management L.P. The underwriting team on the IPO includes Citigroup Inc. C �and Morgan Stanley MS .

PBF Energy was formed in 2008 to acquire crude-oil refineries and downstream assets in North America. The company now owns three domestic oil refineries.