Energy stocks climbed Tuesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.5% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index gained 0.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index added 0.1%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2.7% to $69.96 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent advanced 2.5% to $73.64 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures slumped 4.9% to $3.05 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, TotalEnergies (TTE), Aramco and Saudi Investment Recycling agreed to evaluate the development of a sustainable aviation fuels project in Saudi Arabia. Separately, TotalEnergies is close to buying VSB from private equity firm Partners Group for 2 billion euros ($2.1 billion), Bloomberg reported. TotalEnergies shares gained 1%.

Exxon Mobil's (XOM) board appointed Dan Ammann as president of ExxonMobil Upstream, succeeding Liam Mallon, who will retire Feb. 1. Separately, Exxon and its partners are still in talks with Guyana's government on how to develop a shallow water oil field, Reuters reported. Exxon shares gained 0.1%.

Matador Resources (MTDR) shares added 1.2% after the company's lenders increased the borrowing base under its credit agreement to $3.25 billion from $2.5 billion.