09:22 AM EDT, 09/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were steady premarket Wednesday with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund ( XLE ) recently up by a slight 0.01%.

The United States Oil Fund ( USO ) was 0.6% lower and the United States Natural Gas Fund ( UNG ) was up 1.74%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 0.1% at $70.25 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil lost 0.2% to $73.63 per barrel, and natural gas futures were up almost 2% at $2.25 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Helix Energy Solutions Group ( HLX ) shares advanced by over 2% after it announced a new multi-year contract with Shell (SHEL) subsidiary Shell Offshore starting in 2025 to continue providing well intervention services in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) said Abu Dhabi's National Oil Company signed a deal to acquire a 35% equity stake in its proposed low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Baytown, Texas. Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) shares were up 0.2% pre-bell.

New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) said it received authorization from the US Department of Energy to export up to about 1.4 million tons per annum of liquified natural gas to non-free trade agreement countries. New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) shares were up 0.1% premarket.