03:21 PM EDT, 07/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were rising late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.4% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index climbed 0.7%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index gained 0.8%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 3 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 11.8 million in the previous week. Excluding SPR inventories, commercial crude oil stocks fell 3.4 million after a drop of 12.2 million in the previous week, compared with the rise of 1 million rise expected in a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil advanced 1.1% to $82.31 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent crude gained 0.7% to $85.28 a barrel. Henry Hub natural-gas futures fell 1.2% to $2.32 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Dominion Energy ( D ) said Wednesday it's seeking proposals from nuclear technology companies to deploy small modular reactors at the North Anna power plant in Virginia. Dominion shares rose 0.4%.