08:55 AM EDT, 03/25/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose premarket Tuesday as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) advanced by 0.3% recently.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.4% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.2% higher.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.7% at $69.57 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.7% to $73.48 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 0.6% higher at $3.94 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL) shares advanced nearly 2% after the company said it will raise shareholder distributions to 40%-50% of cash flow from operations, from 30%-40% previously, while keeping its 4% annual dividend rate.