03:21 PM EDT, 06/27/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were mixed late Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) shedding 0.2%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index added 0.4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was fractionally lower.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 1.1% to $81.82 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent crude advanced 1.4% to $86.41 a barrel.

US natural-gas stocks rose 52 billion cubic feet in the week ended Friday, below the 54 billion increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following the gain of 71 billion in the previous week.

Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 2.3% to $2.68 per 1 million BTU.

In other news, the US Supreme Court blocked an effort by the federal government to reject individual state plans to control ozone pollution and replace them with a single, uniform rule.

In corporate news, American Electric Power ( AEP ) shares were adding 0.9% after it said late Wednesday it has named William Fehrman as chief executive and president, starting Aug. 1.