09:15 AM EDT, 08/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing pre-bell Thursday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) recently up 0.7%.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 1% higher, and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was down 0.2%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.6% at $77.45 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark Brent gained 0.6% to $80.25 per barrel, and natural-gas futures were down 0.1% at $2.22 per 1 million BTU.

Golar LNG (GLNG) shares were up 1.8% after it reported a Q2 net income of $25.9 million, swinging from a net loss of $4.5 million a year earlier.

BW LPG ( BWLP ) shares were down more than 2% after saying it agreed to acquire 12 Very Large Gas Carriers from Avance Gas for $1.05 billion.

Borr Drilling ( BORR ) shares fell 0.5% after it reported Q2 earnings of $0.12 per diluted share, missing the $0.16 estimate from two analysts in a Capital IQ poll.