The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) increased 2.2% and the NYSE Energy Sector Index increased 1.5% on Thursday afternoon, leading to gains in energy stocks.
The Dow Jones US Utilities index was up 0.5%, while the Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was showing an increase of 0.8%.
After rising by 4.1 million barrels the week before, US crude oil stocks—including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve—dropped by 2.2 million barrels in the week that ended on June 14. Commercial crude oil stocks decreased by 2.5 million barrels after rising by 3.7 million barrels the week before, excluding inventories in the SPR. This decline was less than the 2.8 million barrels predicted in a Bloomberg survey conducted as of 7:45 am ET.
first month While the global benchmark Brent crude contract was up 0.8% to $85.71 a barrel, West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.9% to $82.31 a barrel. Natural gas futures for Henry Hub fell 5.3% to $2.76 per million BTU.
In business news, Clean Energy Fuels (CLNE) had a 4.2% increase in shares on the announcement of new agreements with multiple towns.
Shares of LanzaTech (LNZA) surged 5.5% following the company’s announcement on Thursday that it had raised its ownership of LanzaJet, a manufacturer of fuels and supplier of sustainable aviation fuel technology, from 23% to 36%.
As it announced on Thursday that it and Nigerian National Petroleum had made the final investment decision for the development of Nigeria’s Ubeta gas field, which will feed gas to the Nigeria LNG plant on Bonny Island, TotalEnergies TTE’s shares were down 0.2%.