03:45 PM EDT, 06/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks edged higher late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index increasing 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) little changed.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index rose 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index fell 1.1%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 2.1 million barrels in the week ended May 31 following a decrease of 3.7 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose 1.2 million after a 4.2 million decline in the previous week, compared with the 2.3 million decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:40 am ET.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.1% to $74.08 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent crude advanced 1.3% to $78.49 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures jumped 7.2% to $2.772 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Williams (WMB) said Wednesday it won a permanent court injunction to halt Energy Transfer ( ET ) from interfering in a pipeline project in Louisiana. Williams shares rose 0.5%, and Energy Transfer ( ET ) added 0.3%.

Avangrid ( AGR ) donated 300 pounds of decommissioned wind turbine blades to WindLoop to test a blade recycling process. Avangrid ( AGR ) shares advanced 0.4%.

Suncor Energy ( SU ) was given notice by environmental justice groups for an impending lawsuit under the US Clean Air Act for alleged repeated violations at its refinery in Commerce City, Colorado, nonprofit environmental law organization Earthjustice said. Suncor shares rose 0.2%.

TotalEnergies (TTE) shares added 0.2% after the company signed a deal with EIG to buy all of West Burton Energy's shares for 450 million pounds ($575 million).