02:02 PM EDT, 08/13/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were slightly higher Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was up 0.2% and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index shed 0.4%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.4% to $62.27 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent dropped 1.2% to $65.31 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures shed 0.2% to $2.80 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 3.3 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 8 following a decrease of 2.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rebounded by 3 million barrels after a 3 million barrel decrease in the previous week, compared with the 912,000 barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Separately, in its monthly Oil Market Report, the International Energy Agency again trimmed its 2025 demand-growth forecast to 680,000 barrels per day, down by 20,000 bpd from July, on weaker-than-expected demand from developing economies.

In corporate news, Green Plains ( GPRE ) pledged the bulk of its ethanol plants as collateral to funds managed by BlackRock (BLK) as the biofuel maker seeks more time to repay its $128 million debt, Bloomberg reported. Green Plains ( GPRE ) shares climbed 5.4%.

Venture Global ( VG ) shares jumped past 10% after it said it won a legal battle against Shell (SHEL) related to liquefied natural gas sales from its Calcasieu project in Louisiana. Shell was up 0.1%.

Chevron Phillips Chemical, a 50-50 joint venture between Chevron ( CVX ) and Phillips 66 (PSX), has cut about 130 jobs in a bid to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency, Bloomberg reported. Chevron ( CVX ) shares rose 0.2% and Phillips 66 was up 0.9%.

National Energy Services Reunited ( NESR ) shares rose past 1% after it said Wednesday it has been awarded several production services contracts in Algeria and Libya, with the total value expected to be more than $100 million.