Energy stocks were declining premarket Wednesday, with The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLE) down 0.1%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.3% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.5% lower.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 0.4% higher at $70.22 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.5% to reach $73.96 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1.3% at $3 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Crescent Energy (CRGY) shares were down more than 2% after the company priced an upsized public offering of 21.5 million shares at $14 per share.

TotalEnergies (TTE) stock was 0.4% lower after the company said it signed an agreement to acquire VSB Group from Partners Group for a consideration of 1.57 billion euros ($1.65 billion).

Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ) shares were up 0.2% after the company priced a private placement of $1.5 billion amount of US dollar-denominated notes and CA$500 million ($355.6 million) Canadian-dollar denominated notes.