Energy stocks retreated Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index falling 1.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) dropping 1.7%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index shed 1.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index eased 0.2%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 4.3 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a rise of 8.9 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose 4.1 million after a rise of 8.7 million in the previous week, larger than the 2.3 million gain expected in a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 2.2% to $71.68 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent declined 1.9% to $75.51 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 0.7% to $3.54 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Chevron (CVX) plans to cut its global workforce by 15% to 20% to reduce costs. Chevron shares fell 1.2%.

NiSource (NI) reported Q4 adjusted earnings of $0.49 per share, down from $0.53 a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $0.48. Its shares rose 1.1%.

Dominion Energy (D) reported an increase in Q4 operating earnings, while operating revenue fell. Dominion shares added 0.7%.