News

Energy stocks rose late Wednesday afternoon with the NYSE Energy Sector Index up 0.2% and the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) adding 0.1%.

The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index fell 0.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities index declined 2.1%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.2% to $86.25 a barrel, while the global benchmark Brent added 1.3% to $90.56 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures gained 0.5% to $1.88 per 1 million BTU.

US crude oil stocks, including those in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose by 6.4 million barrels in the week ended April 5 following an increase of 3.8 million barrels in the previous week. Excluding inventories in the SPR, commercial crude oil stocks increased by 5.8 million barrels after a 3.2-million-barrel gain in the previous week, a larger gain than the 800,000-barrel increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In corporate news, Petrobras (PBR) Chief Executive Officer Jean Paul Prates is set to stay in charge of the state-controlled oil giant for now as internal government skirmishes over the position eased, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. Petrobras shares rose 1%.

American Water Works (AWK) said it is ready to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency's final rule on national drinking water standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Its shares fell 3.3%.

Chevron (CVX) paid Chief Executive Officer Michael Wirth $26.5 million in compensation for 2023, up from $23.6 million a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing. Separately, Barclays started coverage on Chevron with an overweight rating and $203 price target. Chevron shares rose 0.2%.

Shell's (SHEL) former CEO Ben van Beurden said Shell and other European oil and gas companies are at a disadvantage to their US-listed rivals, Reuters reported Tuesday. Shell shares gained 0.8%.

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