Energy stocks advanced Thursday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 0.5% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) adding 0.4%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was climbing 2.2%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index increased 0.2%.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.7% to $71.53 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract added 1.4% to $74.75 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures gained 1.7% to $3.27 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, Chevron (CVX) said its Venezuelan business is still operational and all of its workers are accounted for after back-to-back earthquakes in the country, Bloomberg reported, citing a company statement. Shares were down 0.2%.