Cheaper oil foils energy stocks; Chesapeake off

This story has been updated to correct the name of the company initiated with a neutral rating by Goldman Sachs.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � Chesapeake Energy Corp., Alpha Natural Resources, and First Solar Inc. led losses among energy stocks on Tuesday, as the sector pulled back on weaker oil prices.

Crude oil futures fell below $94 a barrel for the first time since late 2011, sending energy stocks lower.

Moving deeper into the red as the day wore on, the NYSE Arca Oil Index XX:XOI �dropped 1.4%, while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index XX:XNG �moved down 2.3%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index OSX �dipped 2.5%.

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U.S. stock futures rose as Europe's economy escaped a second straight quarterly contraction and domestic retail sales and consumer prices were little changed.

Energy stocks in the S&P 500 SPX fell 2.7%, on average, including a 9.4% loss from Alpha Natural Resources ANR , a 6.8% drop by Peabody Energy Corp. BTU and a decline of 5.8% from First Solar Inc. FSLR .

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA fell 63 points, with components Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM �down 0.2% and Chevron Corp. CVX �off by 1%.

Chesapeake Energy CHK �fell 5.6% to $14.65 as attempts by the company to reassure investors didn�t help its shares beyond a modest one-day rise in the previous session.

A move by the company to line up a new $3 billion line of credit met with resistance on Wall Street.

�We come away from the call slightly more negative on Chesapeake,� analysts at Stern Agee said in a note to clients after the company�s latest conference call on Monday. �Inflated spending, funded by debt and asset sale proceeds remain in place. We believe the company is walking a tightrope as it maintains spending amid a weakened cash flow outlook.�

Among other stocks in the spotlight, Total SA TOT �on Tuesday began pumping drilling mud into a leaking natural-gas well at its Elgin platform in the North Sea, according to reports.

The well has been leaking since March 25 at an estimated cost to the French oil conglomerate of $2 million a day, according to a report by Dow Jones Newswires. If successful, the top kill would stop the flow of natural gas well before a relief well could be completed in the next six months. Total said 200 workers were evacuated from the platform at the time of the mishap. Total shares dipped 0.5%.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. APC �fell 0.6%. The company announced a new �major� natural-gas accumulation nearly 20 miles northwest of its Prosperidade complex within the Rovuma Basin off the coast of Mozambique. Anadarko estimates the Golfinho area to hold 13 trillion cubic feet to 45 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Dix & Eaton Chesapeake runs a rig in the Utica shale.

Goldman Sachs analyst Brian Singer issued upbeat comments on independent oil and gas producers as they bear down on new shale prospects in the U.S.

�We continue to hold an attractive coverage view on exploration stocks due to a combination of rising oil prices, improving resource bases and mergers and acquisitions,� Singer said in a note to clients. �In the next six months, we expect a pickup of well results from oil drilling in new plays or new areas in existing play.�

Singer on Tuesday initiated Midstates Petroleum Co. MPO �with a neutral rating. He also reiterated a conviction-list buy rating for Pioneer Natural Resources PXD �and a buy on Devon Energy DVN �and said neutral-rated Concho Resources CXO �appears to be more attractive following a recent pullback.