Energy stocks climbed late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 1.3% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) rising 1.5%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index jumped 3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index added 1.2%.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell 1.5 million barrels in the week ended Friday following a decrease of 700,000 in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell 2 million after a decline of 1 million in the previous week, a larger drop than the decrease of 850,000 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 3.9% to $80.52 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent advanced 3.2% to $82.45 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 4.1% to $4.13 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, BP (BP) is expected to sign a deal with Iraq in the first week of February to redevelop the Kirkuk oil and gas fields, Reuters reported, citing Iraq Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani. The deal would be bigger than TotalEnergies' (TTE) $27 billion project in Basra, the report said. BP shares advanced 0.7%.

Prairie Operating (PROP) shares surged 47%. The company expects 2025 net income of $68.9 million to $101.7 million. One analyst polled by FactSet expects $75.8 million.

Civitas Resources (CIVI) is considering selling part or all of its assets in the Denver-Julesburg Basin centered in eastern Colorado, which may be valued at over $4 billion, Bloomberg reported. Civitas shares rose 1.9%.

Uni-Fuels (UFG) closed its underwritten initial public offering of 2.1 million shares at $4 apiece for gross proceeds of $8.4 million. The stock gained 4.6%.