09:09 AM EDT, 08/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were edging higher premarket Thursday as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up 0.2% recently.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.3% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down 10.4%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.5% at $72.32 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.7% to $76.58 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 2.6% at $2.120 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

BW LPG ( BWLP ) shares were over 3% lower after it reported Q2 earnings of $0.58 per diluted share, down from $0.59 a year earlier. The company also lowered its Q2 cash dividend sequentially to $0.58 from $1 in Q1.