09:28 AM EST, 01/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks declined premarket Wednesday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) down 0.4% recently.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was up 0.3% and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was 4% higher.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 0.2% higher at $74.39 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.1% to $77.15 per barrel. Natural gas futures were up 2.6% at $3.113 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL) shares fell by over 3% after the company said it expects weaker Q4 oil and gas trading results compared with the prior quarter due to lower liquefied natural gas, or LNG, production and lower trading performance.

BP (BP) unit M/s BP Exploration (Alpha) won a technical services provider contract from India's Oil and Natural Gas, or ONGC, to review the field performance and identify improvements in offshore Mumbai High Field as well as the facilities and wells to improve the production from the field, ONGC said in a regulatory filing. BP shares were down more than 2% premarket.

Chart Industries ( GTLS ) said it signed a global master goods and services agreement with ExxonMobil ( XOM ) to set terms for the supply of LNG equipment, technology and services for global projects. ExxonMobil ( XOM ) shares were 1% higher pre-bell.