09:26 AM EDT, 03/23/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were declining pre-bell Monday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLE ) down 1.3%.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 7.8% lower and The United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was down 4.6%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 8.9% at $89.45 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil fell by 9.8% to $101.19 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 5.2% lower at $2.94 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Venture Global ( VG ) and Vitol said they have executed a new binding agreement for the purchase of about 1.5 million tons per annum of US liquefied natural gas. Venture Global ( VG ) stock was down more than 5% premarket.

Baker Hughes ( BKR ) shares were up more than 1% after the company said Monday that it has agreed to supply gas compression and power-generation equipment for ST LNG, LLC's proposed 8.4-million-tonnes-per-year LNG export terminal offshore Matagorda, Texas.