03:30 PM EST, 12/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index declining 1.9% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) dropping 2.4%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index slumped 2.5%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index shed 0.4%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 3.6 million barrels in the week ended Sunday following a decrease of 700,000 in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell 5.1 million after a decline of 1.8 million in the previous week, compared with the 1.8-million decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil declined 1.7% to $68.74 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 1.5% to $72.50 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 0.1% to $3.05 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Vitol and Glencore are considering buying the Jamaican liquified natural gas assets of New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) , Bloomberg reported. New Fortress shares jumped 7.4%.

YPF (YPF) shares fell 4.3% after UBS downgraded the stock to neutral.

CN Energy ( CNEY ) shares surged 65%, a day after the company said it was notified of its eligibility for a 180-day extension to regain compliance with Nasdaq's $1 per share minimum bid price requirement.

TotalEnergies (TTE) agreed to buy VSB from Partners Group for 1.57 billion euros ($1.65 billion). Separately, Apollo Global Management ( APO ) said that funds managed by its affiliates agreed to buy a 50% stake in TotalEnergies' Texas solar and battery energy storage system portfolio. TotalEnergies shares shed 0.7% and Apollo rose 1.2%.