01:40 PM EDT, 08/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose Friday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 1.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) gaining about 1.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index climbed 3.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index added 0.1%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.6% to $74.89 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent advanced 2.4% to $79.10 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 1.6% to $2.019 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Halliburton ( HAL ) confirmed in a regulatory filing that an unauthorized third party gained access to certain systems. The stock rose 2.4%.

Hafnia ( HAFN ) shares jumped 4.2% after the company reported Q2 earnings of $0.51 per diluted share, up from $0.42 a year earlier.

Equinor ( EQNR ) dropped plans to invest in offshore wind development in Vietnam and will close its office in Hanoi, Reuters reported. The stock rose 1.5%.