02:04 PM EDT, 07/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.4% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) shedding 0.7%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index dropped 1%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities index added 0.7%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 7.3 million barrels in the week ended July 4 following an increase of 4.1 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks jumped by 7.1 million barrels after a 3.8-million-barrel gain in the previous week, compared with the 1.6-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 0.5% to $68.69 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 0.4% to $70.45 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 4.7% to $3.18 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, BP (BP) shares were down 0.4% after the company said it reached an agreement to sell 300 fuel stations and 15 EV charging hubs in the Netherlands to Catom.

Centuri ( CTRI ) shares rose 2% after it said Wednesday it obtained more than $550 million in new customer awards in the US.

Venture Global ( VG ) shares gained 3.4% after the company and Securing Energy for Europe said they have expanded their LNG supply agreement, with Securing Energy's subsidiary set to buy an additional 0.75 million metric tons a year of LNG from Venture Global's ( VG ) CP2 LNG project.