12:33 PM EDT, 07/03/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.6% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was posting a 0.8% increase, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was adding 0.6%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 11.8 million barrels in the week ended June 28 following an increase of 4.9 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 12.2 million barrels after a 3.6-million-barrel gain in the previous week, a much larger drop than the 550,000-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 0.3% to $83.04 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 0.3% to $86.46 a barrel.

US natural gas stocks rose by 32 billion cubic feet in the week ended June 28, a larger gain than the 29 billion increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 6:50 am ET and following an upwardly revised increase of 57 billion cubic feet in the previous week. Stocks at 3.134 trillion cubic feet are 9.6% higher than in the comparable week a year ago and 18.8% above their five-year average.

Henry Hub natural gas futures were 0.7% higher at $2.45 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Constellation Energy ( CEG ) is in talks with Pennsylvania officials to help fund a potential revival of part of its Three Mile Island power facility, where a nuclear meltdown happened in the 1970s, Reuters reported late Tuesday. Constellation shares rose 2.5%.

Schlumberger ( SLB ) shares added 1.1% after the company said Wednesday its OneSubsea joint venture has received a contract from TotalEnergies (TTE) in Angola for a 13-well subsea production system in the Kaminho project.

Kosmos Energy (KOS) shares popped 4.1% after the company said it has started oil production at its Winterfell development in the Green Canyon area of the US Gulf of Mexico.