03:44 PM EDT, 09/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks declined late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 1.9% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) dropping 2%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index slumped 3.9%, while the Dow Jones US Utilities index was up 0.1%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.5% to $69.75 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent shed 2.2% to $73.54 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures for October rose 3.3% to $2.64 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 3.2 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 1 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell 4.5 million barrels after a drop of 1.6 million in the previous week, a larger decline than the decrease of 1.4 million expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) faces near-term headwinds due to low natural gas prices and expected lower crude oil over the next several quarters, RBC Capital Markets said. In the long term, the company is well placed to benefit from increasing demand for power and gas, RBC said. Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) shares fell 0.7%.

Marathon Petroleum ( MPC ) and the Teamsters union remain at a standstill in labor negotiations as a new agreement stagnates and a strike at the Detroit refinery enters its third week, Reuters reported. Marathon shares fell 0.5%.

Vertex Energy ( VTNR ) shares plunged 57% after the company commenced Chapter 11 cases in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to facilitate its restructuring agreement with term loan lenders.

TXNM Energy ( TXNM ) said Chief Financial Officer Elisabeth Eden plans to retire. The shares eased 0.2%.