08:59 AM EDT, 07/05/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were edging higher premarket Friday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) recently advancing by 0.1%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 1.1% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was more than 2% lower.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.2% at $84.01 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil marginally gained to $87.46 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1% at $2.40 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL), BP (BP), TotalEnergies (TTE), and Mitsui will invest in Abu Dhabi National Oil's next liquefied natural gas export project, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Shell was up more than 1% pre-bell.