01:34 PM EDT, 04/09/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were mixed Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.8% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) jumping 5.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index surged 7.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index rose 2.9%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 2.8 million barrels in the week ended Friday following an increase of 6.4 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose by 2.6 million after a gain of 6.2 million in the previous week, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.3% to $59.43 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent dropped 0.3% at $62.17 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 5.5% to $3.654 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Chevron ( CVX ) is planning to ramp up the use of "triple-frac," a means of fracturing subterranean rock in three wells simultaneously in the Permian basin to contain time and costs related to oil production, Reuters reported, citing an interview with Jeff Newhook, the company's completions operations manager. Chevron ( CVX ) shares rose 4.3%.