03:14 PM EST, 12/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were falling late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 2.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) dropping 2.6%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index declined 2.7%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index shed 0.4%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 3.6 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 29 following a decrease of 700,000 barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 5.1 million barrels after a 1.8-million-barrel decline in the previous week, compared with the 1.8-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 1.7% to $68.74 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract dropped 1.5% to $72.50 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 0.1% to $3.05 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Vitol and Glencore are considering buying the Jamaican liquified natural gas assets of New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) , Bloomberg reported. New Fortress shares jumped past 7%.