09:08 AM EDT, 03/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were declining premarket Wednesday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) falling by 1%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 4.2% lower and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was down 0.9%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 4.1% at $88.59 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil fell by 4.5% to $99.76 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 1.1% lower at $2.91 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Chevron ( CVX ) may stop refining oil in California unless taxes and regulations are eased, Bloomberg reported, citing the company. Shares of Chevron ( CVX ) were down more than 1% pre-bell.