09:02 AM EDT, 03/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing premarket Thursday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) 0.5% higher recently.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.2% higher, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was up 1.3%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.7% at $82.73 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark Brent gained 1.5% to $87.42 per barrel, and natural-gas futures were up 0.9% at $1.73 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Schlumberger ( SLB ) was up 0.4% after saying it signed a deal to combine its carbon capture business with Aker Carbon Capture, with SLB to own 80% of the combined entity and Aker Carbon Capture to hold the remaining 20%.