01:42 PM EDT, 07/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index gaining 0.9% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.4%.

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

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 2.8 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 3.1 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell 3.4 million after drop of 3.7 million in the previous week, a larger decline than the decrease of 1.1 million expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 4.2% to $77.83 a barrel as Middle East tensions escalated, while global benchmark Brent advanced 2.7% to $80.72 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 3.3% to $2.06 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Vistra ( VST ) shares jumped 14%, a day after the company received 20-year licenses from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to keep operating the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant through 2053.

Comstock Resources ( CRK ) shares dropped 5.9%, a day after the company reported a Q2 adjusted loss of $0.20 a share versus breakeven a year earlier. Analysts polled by Capital IQ expected a loss of $0.16.

Transocean ( RIG ) shares gained 1.9% after the company secured a contract with BP (BP) for the Deepwater Invictus drillship, which is estimated to contribute about $531 million in backlog. BP stock rose 1.4%.