03:31 PM EST, 03/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.3% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) dropping 1.41%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index shed 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index declined 0.7%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.7% to $66.39 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 2.3% to $69.38 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.1% to $4.44 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Expro ( XPRO ) shares rose 1.7% after the company won more than $10 million in contracts from European energy producer OMV Petrom for a natural gas project in the Black Sea offshore Romania.