03:54 PM EDT, 06/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks fell late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.9% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 1.4%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index added 0.6%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index shed 0.5%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 4.1 million barrels in the week ended Friday following an increase of 2.1 million in the previous week. Excluding SPR inventories, commercial crude oil stocks rose 3.7 million after a gain of 1.2 million in the previous week, compared with a decrease of 1.5 million expected in a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.5% to $78.28 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent crude advanced 0.6% to $82.43 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 2.7% to $3.044 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Kinder Morgan's ( KMI ) Q2 results are expected to show the impact of declining commodity prices and lower activity in the Haynesville and Eagle Ford shales, UBS said in a report. Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) shares rose 0.4%.

Matador Resources ( MTDR ) is set to spend $1.91 billion to expand in the Delaware Basin oil-producing region of the US. Its shares fell 0.7%.

Shell (SHEL) emerged as the frontrunner to buy the assets of Pavilion Energy, Bloomberg reported. Shell shares added 0.3%.

SolarBank ( SUUN ) gained 1.7%. The company said it plans to develop a 6.41-megawatt ground-mount solar power project on a 17-acre parcel in Bloomfield, New York.