08:58 AM EST, 01/07/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing premarket Wednesday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) 0.9% higher.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.1% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 2.6% higher.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.3% at $56.92 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil slightly gained to $60.68 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 5.1% higher at $3.52 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

BP (BP) and Corteva ( CTVA ) launched a new 50:50 joint venture to produce and deliver biofuel feedstocks to global markets. Shares of BP were down more than 1% pre-bell.