09:30 AM EDT, 03/19/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were steady premarket Tuesday as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) was marginally higher recently.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was up 0.1%, while the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) gained 1.6%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.1% at $82.67 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea crude oil lost 0.1% to $86.84 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 2.2% higher at $1.74 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Dril-Quip ( DRQ ) was up more than 1% after saying it agreed to merge with Innovex Downhole Solutions in an all-stock transaction.

Chevron's ( CVX ) division Chevron New Energies and JX Nippon Oil & Gas Exploration have signed a memorandum of understanding that provides a framework to evaluate the export of carbon dioxide gas from Japan. Chevron ( CVX ) was down 0.2% pre-bell.