03:39 PM EDT, 07/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.5% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) shedding 0.6%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was decreasing 1%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities index was fractionally lower.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 4.2 million barrels in the week ended July 11 following an increase of 7.3 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 3.9 million barrels after a 7.1-million-barrel gain in the previous week. Stocks in the SPR fell by 300,000 in the week after rising by 200,000 in the previous week.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil slightly rose to $66.64 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract fell 0.1% to $68.65 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures increased 1.1% to $3.56 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Phillips 66 (PSX) shares fell 3.3% after Citigroup downgraded the stock to neutral from buy and adjusted its price target to $130 from $126.