Energy stocks fell Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index decreasing 0.6% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) shedding 1.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index lost 0.4%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index gained 0.4%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.3% to $74.79 a barrel, and global benchmark Brent advanced 0.2% to $81.52 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 4.6% to $2.92 per 1 million BTU.

In sector news, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday on CNBC that the US will roll out a series of measures to try to fortify oil shipments through the Persian Gulf.

Separately, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 3.5 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 27 following an increase of 16.0 million barrels in the previous week.

In corporate news, Baker Hughes (BKR) is planning a $10 billion cross-border bond offering to back its acquisition of Chart Industries, Bloomberg reported. Baker Hughes shares were down 2.7%.

Cameco (CCJ) and Brookfield Asset Management-owned (BAM) Westinghouse Electric could be part of a nuclear power project under discussion between Japan and the US as part of Japan's $550 billion investment package, Reuters reported. Cameco shares rose 2.3%, and Brookfield added 0.6%.

Shell (SHEL) and Cosan failed to agree on a plan to raise capital as talks to rescue their jointly owned Brazilian ethanol and sugar producer Raizen collapsed, Bloomberg reported. Shell shares were fractionally higher.