03:31 PM EDT, 05/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were falling late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index dropping 2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 2.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was posting a 3.5% drop, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was shedding 1.1%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 2.8 million barrels in the week ended May 17 following a decrease of 1.9 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude stocks rose by 1.8 million barrels after a 2.5-million-barrel drop in the previous week, compared with the 2-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1.7% to $77.33 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 1.5% to $81.68 a barrel. Henry Hub natural-gas futures jumped 4.4% to $2.79 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Ecopetrol ( EC ) said Wednesday Colombia's antitrust regulator opened an investigation into alleged infringements to laws to protect economic competition. Its shares fell 3.5%.