03:24 PM EDT, 08/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was posting a 0.6% increase, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index gained 0.6%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 4 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 16 following an increase of 2.1 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 4.6 million barrels after a 1.4-million-barrel gain in the previous week, a larger drop than the 2.2-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was declining 1.52% to $72.06 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was dropping 1.3% to $76.17 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures shed 0.9% to $2.18 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Ovintiv ( OVV ) is weighing a possible sale of its oil operations in the Uinta Basin in Utah for as much as $2 billion, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Ovintiv ( OVV ) shares rose 0.2%.