09:22 AM EDT, 03/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were gaining premarket Monday, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) recently advancing by 0.5%.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 1.1% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was up 2.8%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.5% at $81.44 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark Brent gained 0.5% to $85.76 per barrel, and natural-gas futures were 5.4% higher at $1.75 per 1 million BTU.

TotalEnergies (TTE) was up 0.4% after saying it has reached over 1.5 gigawatts in renewable power purchase agreements with more than 600 customers globally.

Duke Energy ( DUK ) said Friday that it has promoted Harry Sideris to president, effective April 1. Duke Energy ( DUK ) was up 0.2% pre-bell.