09:20 AM EST, 01/23/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks rose pre-bell Thursday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) advancing by 0.4% recently.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was up 0.1% and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was 0.5% higher.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.2% at $75.62 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.2% to $79.19 per barrel, and natural gas futures were up 1.1% at $4.01 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Kinder Morgan ( KMI ) shares were over 1% higher after the company reported an increase in Q4 adjusted earnings compared with a year earlier.

NRG Energy ( NRG ) increased its quarterly dividend to $0.44 a share, payable Feb. 18 to shareholders on record as of Feb. 3. NRG Energy ( NRG ) shares were down 0.4% premarket.