Energy stocks were mixed late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.2% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) decreasing 0.3%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was down 0.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was fractionally higher.

Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.6% to $85.48 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract advanced 0.3% to $91.26 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures was steady at $2.78 per 1 million BTU.

In corporate news, Shell (SHEL) Lubricants and Hyundai Motor have renewed their global partnership for another five years, the companies said Wednesday. Shell shares were up 0.9%.