04:00 PM EDT, 09/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index adding 0.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.4%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was shedding 0.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index increased 0.5%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil decreased 0.9% to $63.97 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract shed 0.9% to $67.87 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were 0.8% lower at $3.08 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 8.8 million barrels in the week ended Sept. 12 following an increase of 4.5 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 9.3 million barrels after a 3.9-million-barrel gain in the previous week, compared with the 1.8-million-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Ormat Technologies ( ORA ) shares rose 1.5% after Piper Sandler upgraded the renewable energy company's stock to overweight from neutral and increased its price target to $102 per share from $90.

New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) shares jumped 8.5% after it said late Tuesday it has struck a deal on contract terms with the Third-Party Procurement Office and the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority for the supply of liquefied natural gas to Puerto Rico.

Chevron ( CVX ) is expected to receive formal bids from Vitol and Glencore for the US oil giant's 50% stake in Singapore's second-largest refinery, Reuters reported. The entire refinery is valued at $1 billion, the report said. Chevron ( CVX ) shares added 0.3%.

Baker Hughes ( BKR ) said it was awarded a multi-year contract with Petrobras (PBR) to extend the deployment of two stimulation vessels in support of the oil and gas explorer's offshore post and pre-salt fields. Baker Hughes ( BKR ) shares were down 1.6%.