09:00 AM EDT, 06/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing premarket Wednesday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) up 0.6%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.6% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down 2.6%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.3% at $78.93 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 1.2% to reach $82.91 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1.8% at $3.08 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Navigator Holdings ( NVGS ) stock was down more than 4% after the company priced an upsized secondary offering of 7 million of its shares by BW Group at $15 per share.