01:26 PM EST, 03/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose Thursday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index climbing 1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 1.2%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index jumped 2.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index advanced 0.7%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.2% to $79.27 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract gained 0.4% to $83.26 a barrel.

US natural gas stocks fell by 40 billion cubic feet in the week ended March 1, a larger drop than the 36 billion decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:40 am ET and following a decrease of 96 billion cubic feet in the previous week.

Henry Hub natural gas futures dropped 4.2% to $1.85 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Avangrid ( AGR ) shares rose 12% after the company said it got a nonbinding offer of $34.25 a share to take the company private from its controlling company, Spain's Iberdrola.