09:29 AM EST, 02/19/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were advancing premarket Wednesday, with The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) 0.3% higher.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was up 1.4% and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was nearly 4% higher.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.2% at $72.70 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 1% to reach $76.56 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 4.6% higher at $4.19 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

BP (BP) is considering a potential sale of its lubricants business, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. BP shares were down more than 1% pre-bell.

Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) shares were 0.1% higher after the company said it met its near-term debt repayment target of $4.5 billion in Q4 of last year and signed two agreements in Q1 2025 to divest upstream assets to undisclosed buyers for $1.2 billion.

Enlight Renewable Energy ( ENLT ) shares were nearly 7% higher after the company reported an increase in 2024 revenue.