09:22 AM EDT, 07/31/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing premarket Wednesday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) up 1.4% recently.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 2.5% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was down 1.8%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 3.4% at $77.26 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 2.7% to $80.75 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1.7% at $2.09 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Hess (HES) shares advanced by over 1% after it reported higher Q2 adjusted earnings and revenue.

Northern Oil & Gas (NOG) shares were up over 3% after it reported a Q2 revenue of $560.8 million from $476.6 million a year earlier.

WEC Energy Group ( WEC ) shares were down more than 1% after it reported declines in Q2 earnings and operating revenue.