03:55 PM EST, 11/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) each dropping about 1.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index shed 0.6%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index decreased 0.4%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 2.2% to $59.40 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent dropped 2.1% to $63.50 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 4.6% to $4.57 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 2.9 million barrels in the week ended Friday, following a rise of 7.2 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 3.4 million after a gain of 6.4 million in the previous week, compared with a drop of 1.7 million expected in a Bloomberg survey.

In sector news, the US government plans to buy and own as many as 10 large nuclear reactors, potentially financed under a $550 billion investment pledge from Japan, Bloomberg reported, citing Carl Coe, chief of staff at the Department of Energy.

In corporate news, TotalEnergies (TTE) and Chevron ( CVX ) are the frontrunners to buy a 40% operating stake in Galp's Mopane oil discovery offshore Namibia, Reuters reported. TotalEnergies shares were down 1.6%, and Chevron ( CVX ) fell 1.4%.

Eversource Energy ( ES ) shares tumbled 11% after Wells Fargo downgraded the stock to equal weight from overweight and cut its price target to $63 from $79.

Constellation Energy ( CEG ) shares rose 5.8%, a day after the company finalized a $1 billion loan for its Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania from the US Department of Energy.