Energy stocks were advancing premarket Tuesday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) up 0.3%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was 0.6% higher and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was up 19.9%.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 0.6% at $59.79 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil gained 0.5% to $64.23 per barrel, and natural gas futures were 27.4% higher at $3.95 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL) has asked to withdraw from the largest oilfield in Syria and transfer its share to Syria's state-owned operators, Reuters reported Monday, citing the head of the Syrian Petroleum Company, Youssef Qeblawi. Shares of Shell were down more than 1% premarket.