Energy stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 0.4%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index increased 0.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index eased 0.2%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 15 following an increase of 2.7 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks increased by 500,000 barrels after a 2.1-million-barrel increase in the previous week, compared with an 85,000-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was declining 0.4% to $69.10 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was down 0.6% at $72.89 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures jumped 5.6% to $3.17 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, DT Midstream (DTM) has agreed to acquire around 1,300 miles of natural gas transmission pipelines connecting seven states from Oklahoma-based midstream operator ONEOK (OKE) for $1.2 billion in cash. DT Midstream shares were falling 1.1%, and ONEOK shed 0.6%.

KULR Technology (KULR) shares jumped 9.8% after it said it's developing proprietary carbon fiber-designed custom cathodes in small modular reactors for an unnamed nuclear fusion company.

Spire (SR) reported a fiscal Q4 adjusted loss Wednesday of $0.54 per diluted share, narrower than a loss of $0.78 a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of $0.53. Spire shares were down 0.3%.