Sector Update: Energy Stocks Fall Premarket Monday

09:27 AM EDT, 10/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Energy stocks were falling premarket Monday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) declining by 1.2%. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was down 1.5% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 0.7% lower. Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 2% lower at $101.20 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil fell 1.3% to $115.17 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 3.5% at $2.55 per 1 million British Thermal Units. EQT (EQT) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Range Resources (RRC) in an all-stock transaction that will create a natural gas company with a pro forma enterprise value over $50 billion, EQT said. Shares of EQT were down more than 6%, while Range Resources stock was nearly 11% higher pre-bell. Eni (E) said it has begun the execution phase of the Cronos Project, its natural gas project offshore Cyprus, following the signing of the main engineering, procurement, construction and drilling contracts. Eni shares were down more than 3% premarket. Ovintiv (OVV) signed a definitive deal to acquire Logan Energy for 1.40 Canadian dollars ($1.00) per share in cash for a total of about CA$1.26 billion, including assumed debt, the companies said. Ovintiv stock was down more than 1% pre-bell.