Energy stocks were lower late Wednesday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index dropping 2.4% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) falling 1.8%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index slumped 3.7%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was up 0.9%.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 4.5% to $69.95 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract dropped 5.1% to $73.17 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures rose 2.3% to $3.22 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Chevron's (CVX) Project Kilby, a planned 2.7-gigawatt power project for Microsoft's (MSFT) data centers in West Texas, could be expanded over time as Microsoft's power needs exceed the project's initial capacity, UBS Securities said following meetings with the company at an industry conference. Chevron shares were down 2.3%.