03:22 PM EDT, 05/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were declining late Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index shedding 0.4% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) decreasing 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was down 0.1%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was fractionally lower.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 0.9% to $79.35 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 0.8% to $83.42 a barrel.

US natural gas stocks rose by 70 billion cubic feet in the week ended May 10, a smaller gain than the 77 billion increase expected in a Bloomberg survey and following an increase of 79 billion cubic feet in the previous week. Stocks at 2.633 trillion cubic feet are 19% higher than in the comparable week a year ago and 30.8% above their 5-year average.

Henry Hub natural gas futures spiked 3.5% to $2.50 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Waste Management (WM) is considering the sale of its renewable natural gas unit that may be worth roughly $3 billion, Reuters reported Thursday. Its shares added 1.5%.