01:46 PM EDT, 03/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.4% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 0.6%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was posting a 0.4% decline and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was down 0.1%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 1.2 million barrels in the week ended March 15 following a decrease of 900,000 barrels in the previous week.

Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 2 million barrels after a 1.5-million-barrel decline in the previous week, a larger drop than the 1-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was declining 2% to $81.06 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was down 1.9% to $85.75 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were 2.7% lower at $1.70 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, BP (BP) said the first bp pulse branded Gigahub electric vehicle charging station in the US will open to the public April 2. Its shares were shedding 0.5%.

Antero Resources ( AR ) was adding 1.9% as JPMorgan upgraded the company to overweight from neutral and raised its price target to $30 from $27.

New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) said Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of a 1.6-gigawatt capacity reserve electricity contract from a portfolio company of private equity firm Denham Capital. Its shares were down 0.8%.