03:13 PM EDT, 09/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) rising 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was posting a 1% drop, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was shedding 0.6%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 1 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 13 following an increase of 1.1 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 1.6 million barrels after an 800,000-barrel increase in the previous week, a larger drop than the 100,000-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 0.8% to $70.60 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 0.5% to $73.33 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 0.9% to $2.30 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Casella Waste Systems ( CWST ) shares dropped 5% after the company said Wednesday it priced a public offering of 4.5 million shares at $100 per share, for gross proceeds of about $450 million.