02:04 PM EDT, 08/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index adding 1.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) rising 1.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index decreased 0.4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was gaining 0.7%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude rose 2.9% to $75.31 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent was advancing 2.6% to $78.43 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures popped 3.9% to $2.09 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 3 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 2 following a decrease of 2.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 3.7 million barrels after a 3.4-million-barrel decline in the previous week, a larger drop than the 1.8-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Northern Oil & Gas (NOG) said Wednesday it and SM Energy (SM) have exercised an option to jointly buy more Uinta Basin assets next to their XCL Resources asset acquisition. Northern Oil shares rose 2.3%, and SM Energy was up 0.5%.

Enlight Renewable Energy ( ENLT ) shares spiked 1.5% after the company reported Q2 revenue Wednesday of $84.7 million, up from $52.6 million a year earlier.

Natural Resource Partners ( NRP ) shares popped 4.1% after the company reported its Q2 results.