09:09 AM EDT, 06/27/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were edging higher pre-bell Friday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) advancing by 0.4% recently.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.5% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 2.4% higher.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.5% at $65.58 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.4% to $68.02 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 2.2% higher at $3.61 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

DNOW ( DNOW ) will acquire MRC Global ( MRC ) in an all-stock transaction valued at about $1.5 billion, inclusive of MRC's debt, the companies said late Thursday. Shares of DNOW ( DNOW ) were up more than 3% premarket Friday.