03:46 PM EST, 02/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.2% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) shedding 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was falling 1.4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was up 0.5%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was slightly lower at $65.61 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract advanced 0.4% to $71.05 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.9% to $2.97 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 16 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 20 following a decrease of 8.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks were up by 16 million barrels after a 9-million-barrel drop in the previous week, much higher than the 1.9-million-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Chevron ( CVX ) is in talks to take over Russian Lukoil's operations at Iraq's West Qurna 2 oilfield, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing Iraq's oil minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani. The move could nearly double output at the field to about 800,000 barrels per day. Iraq aims to raise its oil production capacity to more than 6 million bpd by 2029, according to Reuters. Chevron ( CVX ) shares were down 0.6%.