09:08 AM EST, 12/17/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were leaning lower premarket Tuesday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) recently nearly 0.3% lower.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was down 0.9% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1.7% lower.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 1.2% lower at $69.44 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil lost 1.1% to $73.08 per barrel. Natural gas futures were down 1.2% at $3.175 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Kosmos Energy ( KOS ) shares rose nearly 15% after the company said it does not currently plan to make an offer for Tullow Oil after preliminary discussions about the potential acquisition.