09:25 AM EDT, 03/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were edging higher premarket Monday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) recently up 0.3%.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 0.2% higher, and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was down 1.1%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.7% at $81.19 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark Brent crude oil gained 0.6% to $85.97 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 2.7% lower at $1.61 per 1 million BTU.

China's Cnooc has filed an arbitration claim against Hess (HES), following Exxon Mobil (XOM) in trying to establish a right over the company's stake in the Stabroek oilfield in Guyana, Reuters reported Friday. Hess was 0.3% higher pre-bell.

TransAlta ( TAC ) said it will implement an automatic share purchase plan to allow its broker to facilitate the buybacks of the company's common shares as part of its normal course issuer bid. TransAlta ( TAC ) was up more than 1% premarket.