01:28 PM EDT, 05/13/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 1.8% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 1.9%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index climbed 1.5%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was up 0.6%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 2.9% to $63.77 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 2.7% to $66.69 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were up 0.3% at $3.66 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Aramco's Chief Executive Amin Nasser said the Saudi Arabian state-owned oil company will sign memoranda of understanding Tuesday with NextDecade ( NEXT ) and Sempra ( SRE ) to supply around 6.2 million tons of liquid natural gas to Aramco, Reuters reported. NextDecade ( NEXT ) shares jumped 9% and Sempra ( SRE ) added 0.7%.