01:25 PM EDT, 07/24/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was posting a 1.3% decline, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was rising 1.5%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 3.1 million barrels in the week ended July 19 following a decrease of 4.2 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 3.7 million barrels after a 4.9-million-barrel decline in the previous week, a larger drop than the 2.8-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 1.3% to $77.93 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 1.2% to $82.01 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures dropped 2.5% to $2.13 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, GE Vernova ( GEV ) will reinspect all of the offshore wind-turbine blades it has made after it found a "material deviation" at the plant that manufactured the component, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, quoting the company's Chief Executive Scott Strazik. GE Vernova ( GEV ) shares were falling 1.5%.