03:32 PM EST, 01/23/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose late Thursday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index adding 0.5% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index shed 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index increased 0.5%.

Crude oil futures fell after President Donald Trump said he will ask Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower prices.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.2% to $74.51 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 1.1% to $78.16 a barrel.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 800,000 barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 1.5 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell 1 million after a drop of 2 million in the previous week, a larger decline than the decrease of 400,000 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

US natural gas stocks fell 223 billion cubic feet in the week ended Friday, smaller than the decrease of 247 billion expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following a drop of 258 billion in the previous week.

Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 0.1% to $3.96 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Murphy Oil ( MUR ) is likely to beat Q4 cash flow per share estimates by $0.05, UBS said in an earnings preview emailed Thursday. The firm said it was forecasting Q4 cash flow per share of $2.70, compared to Wall Street's $2.65. Murphy shares were down 1.9%.