09:25 AM EDT, 05/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were edging higher in premarket activity Thursday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) recently advancing by 0.4%.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 0.2% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was up 1.7%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.2% at $79.17 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea crude oil gained 0.4% to $83.73 per barrel, and natural gas futures were up 1.8% at $1.97 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL) shares were up 1.5% after the company reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $1.20 per share, down from $1.39 a year earlier but still beating the $1 forecast from three analysts polled by Capital IQ.

Targa Resources ( TRGP ) shares were over 4% lower after the company reported a Q1 net income of $275.2 million, down from $497.0 million a year earlier.

Dominion Energy ( D ) shares were up 1.5% after the company reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.55 per diluted share, down from $0.59 a year earlier but still beating the $0.52 forecast from analysts polled by Capital IQ.