09:09 AM EDT, 07/31/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were falling pre-bell Thursday as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) was recently declining by 0.9%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.3% lower and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down 0.5%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 0.5% lower at $69.64 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil lost 0.7% to $71.98 per barrel. Natural gas futures were down 0.1% at $3.042 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL) shares were up 0.2% after the company posted lower Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue.