09:02 AM EDT, 08/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were declining premarket Friday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 0.8% recently.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.8% lower and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down almost 2%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 2.4% at $76.28 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil lost 2.2% to $79.27 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1.9% at $2.16 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

NOV (NOV) maintained its quarterly dividend at $0.075 a share, payable on Sept. 27 to shareholders on record as of Sept. 13. NOV shares were down more than 2% pre-bell.