Oil Stocks Jump as Crude Rises on Trump’s War Escalation Threat

Oil stocks jumped in premarket trading. Battalion Oil rose 30%; Apache, Occidental, Devon, ConocoPhillips, BP, Halliburton, and Marathon Petroleum rose 3%; Exxon Mobil, SLB, Chevron, TotalEnergies, Phillips 66, Woodside Energy, and Shell rose 2%.

Oil surged after US President Donald Trump vowed an escalation to the war in Iran over coming weeks, damping hopes of a swift resolution and prolonging disruptions to energy flows through the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Brent climbed near $108 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was around $106 following Trump’s rare prime-time address to the nation, where he cast the war as a success. The president said the US would hit Iran “extremely hard” over the next two to three weeks, and that Hormuz would open “naturally” after the conflict ends, without offering details or a clear timeline.

Oil fell in recent days, while wider markets rallied, after Trump signaled a possible resolution to the Middle East conflict within weeks, but his speech from the White House injected further uncertainty about an end to war. The US president again threatened attacks on Iranian oil facilities.

The conflict has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, choking off supplies of crude, gas and products such as diesel to global markets, driving up energy prices and raising fears of an inflation crisis. Oil posted big monthly gains in March and Brent is still more than 40% higher than before the war.