09:06 AM EDT, 09/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were declining premarket Friday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 0.6%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 1.7% lower and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was up 0.3%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 1.3% lower at $62.66 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil lost 1.3% to $66.15 per barrel, and natural gas futures were up 0.4% at $3.09 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL) is considering a sale of its 16.67% stake in the North West Shelf liquified natural gas export plant in Australia that could be worth over $3 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Shell shares were 0.3% higher premarket.