03:38 PM EST, 02/12/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks retreated late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 1.9% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) dropping 2.4%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index shed 1.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index eased 0.2%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 4.3 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a rise of 8.9 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose by 4.1 million after a rise of 8.7 million in the previous week, larger than the 2.3 million gain expected in a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.7% to $71.34 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent declined 2.4% to $75.14 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.4% to $3.57 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Chevron ( CVX ) plans to slash its global workforce this year by 15% to 20% to reduce costs. The stock fell 1.6%.

Exelon (EXC) reported Q4 adjusted operating earnings of $0.64 per diluted share, up from $0.60 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $0.59. The stock rose 0.7%.

NiSource (NI) reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.49 a share, down from $0.53 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $0.48. The stock added 0.9%.

Dominion Energy (D) reported an increase in Q4 operating earnings, while operating revenue fell. The stock shed 0.4%.