Energy stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) each adding about 1.9%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was easing 0.1%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was shedding 0.6%.

In sector news, the International Energy Agency agreed to release 400 million barrels of oil in a bid to stem crude prices and address supply disruptions triggered by the war in the Middle East. The decision by the 32 IEA member countries marks the "largest ever" oil stock release in the agency's history, it said Wednesday. The planned release would surpass the 182 million barrels that the IEA put on the market in two releases in 2022 during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, news outlets reported.

Separately, US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 3.8 million barrels in the week ended March 6 following a rise of 3.5 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks were up by 3.8 million barrels after a 3.5-million-barrel gain in the previous week, larger than the 250,000 barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil was rising 3.7% to $86.55 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract was advancing 4.2% to $91.50 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures added 5% to $3.17 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Shell (SHEL) and Cosan (CSAN) joint venture Raizen said Wednesday it filed for an out-of-court reorganization to restructure about 65.1 billion Brazilian reais ($12.50 billion) in unsecured financial obligations. Shell shares were up 2.2%, and Cosan fell 2.4%.

Chevron (CVX) and Shell are nearing major petroleum extraction agreements in Venezuela following the US apprehension of Nicolas Maduro, Reuters reported, citing five unnamed sources close to the negotiations and official documents. Chevron shares rose 1.9%.

Shell and TotalEnergies (TTE) have declared force majeure to customers they supply with liquefied natural gas from Qatar, Reuters reported. TotalEnergies shares added 1.1%.