01:39 PM EST, 11/13/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.5% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) rising 0.7%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was climbing 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was shedding 0.7%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.5% to $58.78 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract advanced 0.5% to $63.04 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures gained 3% to $4.67 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 7.2 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 7 following an increase of 5.7 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose by 6.4 million barrels after a 5.2-million-barrel increase in the previous week, a much larger gain than the 1.5-million-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, APA (APA) has emerged as a potential partner for Repsol, which is considering a reverse merger of its upstream unit, Bloomberg reported. APA shares rose 2.8%.

TotalEnergies (TTE) is contemplating selling some renewable energy assets in Asia in a bid to pare debt, Bloomberg reported. TotalEnergies shares added 2%.

BP (BP) is in active talks with Stonepeak over the sale of its Castrol lubricants unit, Reuters reported. BP shares were down 0.7%.