01:28 PM EDT, 03/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 1.7% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) adding about 2%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was climbing 1.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was up 0.3%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 5.1% to $94.95 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract gained nearly 6% to to $108.09 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.2% to $3.02 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, TotalEnergies' (TTE) trading arm has been on one of the biggest-ever Middle Eastern oil buying sprees this month, adding to the sharper prices of the commodity, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing traders monitoring data from Platts. TotalEnergies shares were up 1.9%.