09:15 AM EDT, 08/27/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were higher premarket Wednesday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) up 0.1% recently.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 0.2% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was up 2.1%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.5% at $63.55 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.4% to $67.47 per barrel. Natural gas futures were up 1.9% at $2.77 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

American Resources (AREC) shares rose 5.2% after the company said its ReElement Technologies unit has signed a memorandum of understanding with Principal Mineral to jointly develop advanced rare earth production capability in the US.

MPLX ( MPLX ) said Wednesday that it signed a definitive deal to sell its Rockies gathering and processing assets to a Harvest Midstream subsidiary for $1 billion in cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments. Shares of MPLX ( MPLX ) were up 1.1%.

Nano Nuclear Energy ( NNE ) said Wednesday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Dioxitek, setting a non-binding framework for the companies' evaluation of uranium conversion to enrichment feedstock and its supporting infrastructure in Argentina. Shares of Nano Nuclear Energy ( NNE ) were down 0.7%.