Despite a slight rise in oil prices, most European energy stocks fell in early trading. Although energy stocks typically rise when oil prices increase, investors remain cautious about the outlook for crude oil, with concerns that Venezuelan crude could flood an already saturated market. Meanwhile, Shell’s latest fourth-quarter briefing released on Thursday showed that the company’s performance at the end of last year was weaker than expected. The London-based energy giant led the decline in the European energy sector, with its share price falling 2%. Its British counterpart BP fell 0.8%, Halbur Energy dropped 1.1%, and Spain’s Repsol declined 0.8%.