Energy stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index down 0.3% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) falling 1.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index shed 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index declined 0.7%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.7% to $66.39 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 2.3% to $69.38 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.1% to $4.44 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Expro (XPRO) shares rose 1.8% after the company won more than $10 million contracts from OMV Petrom for the Neptun Deep gas project in the Black Sea.

BP's (BP) strategic review of its Castrol unit has received attention from Saudi Aramco, which is weighing a potential offer for the lubricant assets, Bloomberg reported. BP added 1.6%.

Phillips 66 (PSX) said it's ready to engage "constructively" and find a "path forward" with activist fund Elliott Investment Management, even though the fund "showed no genuine interest in engagement." Phillips 66 shares were falling 2%.

Ecopetrol (EC) shares rose 2.4% after it reported lower Q4 net income and revenue that still topped analysts' expectations.