Energy stocks were slightly higher Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 0.3%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was up 0.2% and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index shed 0.4%.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.4% to $62.27 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent dropped 1.2% to $65.31 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures shed 0.2% to $2.80 per 1 million BTU.
In sector news, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 3.3 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 8 following a decrease of 2.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rebounded by 3 million barrels after a 3 million barrel decrease in the previous week, compared with the 912,000 barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.
Separately, in its monthly Oil Market Report, the International Energy Agency again trimmed its 2025 demand-growth forecast to 680,000 barrels per day, down by 20,000 bpd from July, on weaker-than-expected demand from developing economies.
In corporate news, Green Plains (GPRE) pledged the bulk of its ethanol plants as collateral to funds managed by BlackRock (BLK) as the biofuel maker seeks more time to repay its $128 million debt, Bloomberg reported. Green Plains shares climbed 5.4%.
Venture Global (VG) shares jumped past 10% after it said it won a legal battle against Shell (SHEL) related to liquefied natural gas sales from its Calcasieu project in Louisiana. Shell was up 0.1%.
Chevron Phillips Chemical, a 50-50 joint venture between Chevron (CVX) and Phillips 66 (PSX), has cut about 130 jobs in a bid to reduce costs and improve operational efficiency, Bloomberg reported. Chevron shares rose 0.2% and Phillips 66 was up 0.9%.
National Energy Services Reunited (NESR) shares rose past 1% after it said Wednesday it has been awarded several production services contracts in Algeria and Libya, with the total value expected to be more than $100 million.
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