09:20 AM EDT, 07/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing premarket Tuesday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) 0.8% higher recently.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was up 0.9%, and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was 1% lower.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1% at $84.19 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark Brent gained 0.8% to $87.27 per barrel, and natural-gas futures were down 1.2% at $2.45 per 1 million BTU.

Shell (SHEL) said its Shell Nederland Raffinaderij unit will temporarily pause construction work at its biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam to assess the "most commercial way forward" for the project amid weak market conditions. Shell was 0.5% higher pre-bell.

NextEra Energy Partners ( NEP ) may face a dividend cut amid $3.7 billion in convertible equity portfolio financing liabilities after 2026 and "insufficient growth from wind repowerings," RBC Capital Markets said Monday in a report. NextEra Energy Partners ( NEP ) was 0.4% lower premarket.