Energy stocks were edging higher pre-bell Tuesday, with the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) advancing by 0.7%.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up 0.8% and the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG) was 1.1% lower.

Front-month US West Texas Intermediate crude oil was 1% higher at $69.24 per barrel at the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global benchmark North Sea Brent crude oil rose 1% to $72.72 per barrel, and natural gas futures were down 1.5% at $3.20 per 1 million British Thermal Units.

Shell (SHEL) has agreed to sell its Shell Downstream South Africa retail and wholesale fuel business to Abu Dhabi's ADNOC Distribution at an implied enterprise value of $1 billion, ADNOC said. Shares of Shell were up more than 2% premarket.