Energy stocks were advancing premarket Thursday as the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) rose by 0.7% recently.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 1.7% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1.9% lower.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 1.1% higher at $69.21 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 1% to $73.02 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1% at $2.95 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Ovintiv (OVV) shares were over 1% higher after the company said it has agreed to acquire certain assets in Alberta Montney from Paramount Resources in an all-cash transaction of $2.38 billion.

Ecopetrol (EC) shares were up more than 1% after the company reported sales that still exceeded analysts' expectations.

TechnipFMC (FTI) shares advanced by over 1% after the company said it won a "major" contract from TotalEnergies (TTE) for the GranMorgu project on Block 58, the first offshore oil and gas development in Suriname.