09:08 AM EDT, 06/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were declining premarket Thursday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) down 0.8%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was down 1.6% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.9% lower.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 2.3% lower at $74.99 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil lost 1.6% to $78.32 per barrel, and natural gas futures were up 0.8% at $3.17 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Equinor ( EQNR ) and its partners have selected the development concept for the Ringvei Vest project in the Norwegian North Sea, which is expected to contribute about 240 million barrels of oil equivalent, the company said. Equinor ( EQNR ) stock was down 4.2% pre-bell.