European energy shares drop as oil plunges on Iran ceasefire

MILAN, April 8 (Reuters) - European oil and gas stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, and were the only sector in the region to fall, after the two-week ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran sparked a selloff in energy prices after weeks of strong gains.

Norway's Equinor EQNR.OL led the declines, down 13%, alongside domestic peers Var Energi VAR.OL and Aker BP AKRBP.OL, which had benefited from disruptions to Qatar gas flows after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Britain's BP BP.L and Shell SHEL.L, Italy's Eni ENI.MI, France's TotalEnergies TTEF.PA and Spain's Repsol REP.MC were all down around 6% to 9%.

Oil prices sank after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, conditional on the immediate and safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent futures LCOcv1 fell 13% to $95.0 a barrel while WTI slid 15%, eroding earnings expectations for energy producers.

Europe's Oil & Gas .SXEP index was the worst-performing sector, down 4.3% and on track for its biggest daily fall since April 2025. The index is still up almost 30% so far in 2026.