Energy stocks were advancing premarket Tuesday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) 0.2% higher.
The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 1.1% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 3.4% lower.
Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 0.4% higher at $71.01 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil rose 0.1% to $73.20 per barrel, and natural gas futures were up 2.3% at $3.25 per 1 million British Thermal Units.
Shell (SHEL) is close to a deal to sell over 600 retail fuel outlets in South Africa to Abu Dhabi National Oil's retail arm for a deal valued at around $1 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Shell stock was 0.1% higher pre-bell.