Oil prices slumped below $100 a barrel and energy stocks fell sharply on both sides of the Atlantic on Wednesday after the US-Iran ceasefire raised expectations that oil and gas flows through the Strait of Hormuz could soon resume.
Brent crude futures hit their lowest level in nearly a month at $91.70 a barrel, reversing a portion of the record monthly gains logged in March when the Middle East conflict severely disrupted global energy supplies. US energy majors Exxon Mobil and Chevron fell 6.3% and 4.6% respectively in premarket trading, while oil and gas producers Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy and ConocoPhillips dropped between 5% and 8%.
LNG exporters were among the hardest hit, with Venture Global — which had benefited from relatively greater exposure to spot prices — down 11.1% and Cheniere falling around 7%. Oilfield services firms Baker Hughes and SLB shed 2.6% and 4.1% respectively, while refiners Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 lost 3% and 5%.
“The return of free-flowing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, without any Iranian tolls or controls, feels essential if oil prices are going to start trending back toward levels we saw before the conflict began,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
European energy stocks also under pressure
In Europe, BP, Shell, Eni, TotalEnergies and Repsol all fell between 6% and 9%. Norway’s Equinor slumped 12.5%, while domestic peers Var Energi and Aker BP — which had benefited from disruptions to Qatari gas flows — lost 11.3% and 2.6% respectively. Europe’s oil and gas sector index shed 4.3%, putting it on track for its biggest daily fall since April 2025, though the index remains up almost 30% for the year to date.
The sell-off marks a sharp reversal of fortunes for a sector that had been the standout performer of the first quarter. The S&P 500 Energy Index gained around 37.2% in January to March — its strongest quarter on record — as soaring oil prices more than offset a broader market decline that saw the S&P 500 fall roughly 4.6% over the same period.
(Reuters)
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