01:34 PM EDT, 07/02/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks gained Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 1.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) climbing 1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index added 1.6%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index shed 0.7%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 4.1 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 5.6 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose by 3.8 million after a drop of 5.8 million in the previous week, compared with a decline of 3.1 million expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.3% to $66.93 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent advanced 2.2% to $68.61 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures gained 2.6% to $3.51 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Hut 8 ( HUT ) shares jumped 14% after the company's four natural gas-fired power plants in Ontario received five-year capacity contracts from the Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator.