03:25 PM EDT, 09/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 1.9% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) dropping 2%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index slumped 3.2%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities index was up 0.4%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.5% to $69.75 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 2.2% to $73.54 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 0.8% to $2.81 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 3.2 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 20 following a decrease of 1.0 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels after a 1.6-million-barrel drop in the previous week, a larger drop than the 1.4-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) faces near-term headwinds due to low natural gas prices and expected lower crude oil prices over the next several quarters, RBC Capital Markets said in a note emailed Wednesday. However, in the long term, the company is well placed to benefit from increasing demand for power and natural gas, RBC said. Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) shares were shedding 0.7%.