01:43 PM EDT, 04/10/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were lower Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.3% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 0.2%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was posting a 0.6% decline, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index fell 2.1%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was fractionally lower at $85.21 a barrel, while the global benchmark Brent was slightly down at $89.40 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were steady at $1.87 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 6.4 million barrels in the week ended April 5 following an increase of 3.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks increased by 5.8 million barrels after a 3.2-million-barrel gain in the previous week, a much larger gain than the 800,000 barrel-increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Chevron ( CVX ) paid Chief Executive Michael Wirth $26.5 million in compensation for 2023, up from $23.6 million a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. Separately, Barclays started coverage on Chevron ( CVX ) with an overweight rating and $203 price target. Chevron ( CVX ) shares were down 0.3%.

Shell's (SHEL) former Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said Shell and other European oil and gas companies are at a disadvantage to their US-listed rivals, Reuters reported Tuesday. Shell shares were rising 0.5%.

Endeavour Silver ( EXK ) reported the first drawdown on $60 million of the $120 million loan for the development of the Terronera Mine in Mexico's Jalisco state. Its shares rose 1.1%.