** U.S. energy firms gain premarket, tracking rise in crude prices O/R

** Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose 2.17%, to $61.78 a barrel; U.S. West Texas Intermediate $(WTI)$ crude CLc1 rose 2.2%, to $57.77 a barrel

** Prices rise after U.S. intercepts oil tanker in international waters off the coast of Venezuela and tensions in Russia's war against Ukraine remained high, with both developments raising fears of supply disruption

** Oil majors Chevron CVX.N and Exxon Mobil XOM.N each up 0.4%

** EOG Resources EOG.N and APA Corp APA.O up 1% and 0.8% respectively

** Oilfield services firms: Halliburton HAL.N and Baker Hughes BKR.O each gain marginally

** Refiners Delek US Holdings DK.N up 7.4%, HF Sinclair DINO.N up 1.6% and Phillips 66 PSX.N up 1.5%

(Reporting by Pranav Mathur in Bengaluru)

((Pranav.Mathur@thomsonreuters.com;))