09:02 AM EDT, 05/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were edging higher premarket Monday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) recently up 0.1%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.3% lower, and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was up 1.2%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 0.6% at $79.55 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark Brent lost 0.5% to $83.54 per barrel, and natural-gas futures were up 1.7% at $2.67 per 1 million BTU.

NextDecade ( NEXT ) advanced more than 6% after saying the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. has acquired a nearly 12% stake in phase 1 of the company's Rio Grande LNG export project in Texas, which is expected to produce a less carbon-intensive LNG.