01:47 PM EDT, 09/24/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 1.6% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 2.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was climbing 1.4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was up 0.7%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 400,000 barrels in the week ended Sept. 19 following a decrease of 8.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 600,000 barrels after a 9.3-million-barrel drop in the previous week, compared with the 802,000-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 2.5% to $64.96 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 2.4% to $69.25 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were 0.6% lower at $3.12 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Lithium Americas ( LAC ) shares surged 96% after the company said it is in talks with the US Department of Energy and General Motors (GM) over its Thacker Pass lithium joint venture project, including financing for the project.

Woodside Energy (WDS) shares rose 1.6% after it said Wednesday that it has signed a heads of agreement to supply Turkey's state-owned Botas with 5.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas equivalent of LNG for up to nine years starting in 2030.

TotalEnergies (TTE) and Germany's RWE won a French government tender to build the Centre Manche 2 offshore wind farm off the coast of Normandy with a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts, the French government said Wednesday. TotalEnergies shares advanced 1.2%.

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) shares fell over 15% after the company said it is notifying commercial counterparties of a force majeure due to the Sept. 8 mud rush incident at its Grasberg Block Cave mine in Indonesia that resulted in the death of at least two people.