Energy stocks were rising Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index adding 5.7% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) jumping 6.7%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index surged 9%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index rose 2.9%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 2% to $60.75 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent gained 1.5% at $63.74 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 5.6% to $3.66 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 2.8 million barrels in the week ended Friday following an increase of 6.4 million in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks rose by 2.6 million after a gain of 6.2 million in the previous week, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Constellation Energy (CEG) shares jumped 12% after Citigroup upgraded the stock to buy from neutral.

Chevron (CVX) is planning to ramp up the use of "triple-frac," a means of fracturing subterranean rock in three wells simultaneously in the Permian basin to contain time and costs related to oil production, Reuters reported, citing an interview with Jeff Newhook, the company's completions operations manager. Chevron shares rose 5.2%.

APTIM and joint venture partner BWX Technologies (BWXT) have been awarded a $1.4 billion contract by the US Department of Energy to operate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and its facilities in Louisiana and Texas, APTIM said Wednesday. BWX Technologies shares gained 7.8%.