Energy stocks edged up late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index increasing 0.4% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index shed 0.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index added 0.3%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 3.7 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 800,000 in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose 3.5 million after a drop of 1 million in the previous week, a bigger gain than the rise of 2.2 million expected in a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.2% to $72.87 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent fell 0.9% to $76.77 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 1.8% to $3.54 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Chevron (CVX) is expected to provide near-term guidance as part of its Q4 earnings report later this week highlighting enhanced free cash flow projections for 2025 and 2026, RBC Capital Markets said. Chevron shares eased 0.2%.

Schlumberger (SLB) is collaborating with Deep Earth Energy Production on a geothermal project in Saskatchewan. Separately, Schlumberger and ChampionX's (CHX) planned merger will be placed under a phase 1 inquiry by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, the regulator said. Schlumberger shares fell 1.2%, and ChampionX shed 0.9%.

Hess (HES) reported higher Q4 adjusted EPS and revenue. Its shares were 0.2% higher.

W&T Offshore (WTI) said it has closed its offering of $350 million of 10.75% senior second lien notes due 2029 at par in a private offering. Its shares were down 0.3%.