Energy stocks were edging up Tuesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) each adding 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index climbed 1.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was down 1%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 0.6% to $68.80 a barrel while the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 0.4% to $72.46 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures were falling 1.1% to $3.15 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, ProPetro (PUMP) shares surged nearly 20% after it announced its new ProPetro Energy Solutions unit that will do business as ProPWR with growth capital investment of about $122 million.

Kinetik (KNTK) is set to buy Permian Resources' (PR) natural gas and crude oil gathering systems in Reeves County, Texas, for $180 million in cash. Kinetik shares were down 1.2%, and Permian Resources added 1.3%.

Chevron's (CVX) Chevron USA unit said Tuesday that it has completed a retrofit of its Pasadena, Texas refinery, boosting its capacity to process lighter crudes by nearly 15% to 125,000 barrels per day. Chevron shares rose 0.7%.