01:24 PM EST, 01/29/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks edged higher Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) both increasing 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index shed 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index added 0.2%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 3.7 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 800,000 in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose 3.5 million after a drop of 1 million in the previous week, a bigger gain than the increase of 2.2 million expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 1.8% to $72.44 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 1.5% to $76.33 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 1.4% to $3.42 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Schlumberger ( SLB ) is collaborating with Deep Earth Energy Production on a geothermal project in southeast Saskatchewan. Separately, Schlumberger ( SLB ) and ChampionX's ( CHX ) planned merger will be placed under a phase 1 inquiry by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, the regulator said. Schlumberger ( SLB ) shares dropped 0.4%, and ChampionX ( CHX ) shed 0.2%.