01:31 PM EDT, 08/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) each decreasing about 0.9%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index fell 1.8%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities index was adding 0.4%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was declining 0.6% to $75.06 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was shedding 0.8% to $78.02 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were rising 2.3% to $1.95 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 100,000 barrels in the week ended Aug. 23 following a decrease of 4 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 800,000 barrels after a 4.6-million-barrel decline in the previous week, a smaller drop than the 2.8-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, TotalEnergies (TTE) shares fell 1.1% after its TOTSA TotalEnergies Trading unit was ordered to pay a $48 million fine by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.