Energy stocks were higher late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 1.1% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) rising 1.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index climbed 2.5%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index was up 0.2%.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.1% to $63.94 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract advanced 1% to $67.86 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures jumped 5.5% to $2.87 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell by 1.6 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 22 following a decrease of 5.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks fell by 2.4 million barrels after a 6-million-barrel decline in the previous week, a larger drop than the 2-million-barrel decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Exxon Mobil (XOM) has engaged in private talks with Russian state oil company Rosneft about restarting operations at the Sakhalin project, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Exxon shares were rising 1.3%.

Essential Utilities (WTRG) shares rose 2% after the firm said it has agreed with International Electric Power to invest $26 million in a data center facility in Greene County, Pennsylvania.

EQT (EQT) is in talks to secure liquefied natural gas supply from NextDecade's (NEXT) Rio Grande export terminal, which is under construction in Brownsville, Texas, Bloomberg reported. NextDecade shares gained 3.3%, and EQT was falling 2.2%.

Sempra (SRE) shares added 0.6% after the company said its Sempra Infrastructure unit signed a 20-year deal with EQT to supply 2 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas offtake from the Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 development project in Jefferson County, Texas.