Sector Update: Energy Stocks Rise Wednesday Afternoon

01:51 PM EDT, 10/14/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.3% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) adding 0.5%. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was falling 1.8%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was shedding 0.5%. In geopolitical news, the Iran-aligned militant group Houthis vowed to press on with attacks on airports and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, a day after a strike that sources said caused extensive damage to the headquarters of oil giant Saudi Aramco, Reuters reported. Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.5% to $95.55 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract advanced 0.8% to $106.51 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 3.7% to $3.16 per 1 million BTU. In corporate news, American Electric Power (AEP) shares rose 0.6% after it said Wednesday that it will invest about $4 billion in a 702-megawatt fuel cell generation project near Cheyenne, Wyoming, as part of a 20-year power purchase agreement with Alphabet's Google (GOOGL). Petrobras (PBR) shares gained 1.4%. The company said Tuesday it will receive $859 million after signing cost and volume balancing agreements with its partners in the BM-S-11A Consortium, Shell (SHEL), TotalEnergies (TTE), and Petrogal, in connection with the Berbigao and Sururu shared reservoirs. Equinor (EQNR) and its partners TotalEnergies and Petoro have made an oil and gas discovery at an exploration well near the Oseberg field off the southwestern coast of Norway, the company said. Equinor shares rose 1%. National Fuel Gas (NFG) plans to spin off its Integrated Upstream and Gathering business into an independent, publicly traded company in a tax-free transaction expected to close in H2 2027, the company said. National Fuel Gas shares were down 2.2%.