09:04 AM EDT, 08/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher pre-bell Thursday as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was up 0.4% recently.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.6% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down 2.4%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.7% at $75.05 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.5% to $79.03 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 2.2% at $2.05 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

ONEOK ( OKE ) said it reached a deal to acquire Global Infrastructure Partners' 43% stake in EnLink Midstream ( ENLC ) for $14.90 per unit and 100% of the interests in the managing member for $300 million, for an aggregate cash consideration of about $3.3 billion. EnLink Midstream ( ENLC ) shares were up over 13% premarket.