03:58 PM EDT, 10/22/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 1.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 1.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index climbed 3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index increased 0.3%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil jumped 4.2% to $59.67 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent advanced 4% to $63.74 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures shed 0.7% to $3.45 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 100,000 barrels in the week ended Friday following an increase of 4.3 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks declined by 1 million after a gain of 3.5 million in the previous week, compared with an increase of 2.2 million expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Vistra ( VST ) completed the acquisition of seven natural gas-fueled power plants totaling 2,600 megawatts from Lotus Infrastructure Partners, following regulatory clearance. Vistra ( VST ) shares were little changed.

Shell (SHEL) is appealing a court ruling by the Western Cape High Court that rescinded an environmental permit for an oil exploration block off the west coast of South Africa, Bloomberg reported. Shell shares added 2.5%.

Woodside Energy ( WDS ) shares climbed 5.6% after the company reported Q3 revenue that topped Wall Street expectations and raised 2025 production guidance.

Germany denied a TotalEnergies (TTE) request to improve the financial terms of the country's offshore wind projects, Bloomberg reported. TotalEnergies shares rose 2%.