Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Pre-Bell Friday

09:25 AM EDT, 09/25/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were falling pre-bell Friday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) declining by 1.1%. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was down 2.8% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 2.6% lower. Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 2% lower at $92.71 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil fell 1.5% to $104.96 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 3.6% at $3.18 per 1 million British Thermal Units. Ecopetrol (EC) said its board has unanimously appointed Joaquin Gutierrez Caballero as its chief executive officer and principal legal representative, effective Monday. Shares of Ecopetrol were down more than 1% premarket. Atlas Energy Solutions' (AESI) two wholly owned indirect subsidiaries entered into separate cost-reimbursement agreements with a leading frontier AI lab, alongside equipment purchase agreements, to support specific data-center projects, the company said. Atlas Energy Solutions stock was up more than 13% pre-bell. TotalEnergies (TTE) said its board unanimously backed its plans to propose renewing Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne's mandate at the May 2027 shareholders' meeting. TotalEnergies shares were 0.9% lower premarket.