BATL, TPET, SKYQ, INDO Stocks Surge Premarket: Oil Prices Spike On Renewed US-Iran Hostilities

• Oil futures climbed nearly 2.5% higher in the premarket session following the news, but were still trading below $100 a barrel. 
• Late Wednesday, the U.S. military had reportedly struck a military site in Iran, while also shooting down four Iranian attack drones that were viewed as a threat around the Strait. 
• In response, Iran's IRGC had reportedly claimed to have targeted a U.S. air base, adding that the "aggression will not go unanswered."

Shares of major energy companies and related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) soared in Thursday’s premarket trading session as oil prices climbed after the U.S. and Iran traded air strikes, smashing hopes for a quick peace deal between the two.

Battalion Oil Corp. (BATL) surged by over 15% and Sky Quarry Inc. (SKYQ) rallied by more than 14% at the time of writing. Meanwhile, Trio Petroleum Corp. (TPET) and Indonesia Energy Corp Ltd. (INDO) jumped up about 9% and 4%, respectively.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) climbed about 1.8% in Thursday’s early trading session, while ProShares Ultra Bloomberg Crude Oil (UCO) was up about 2.4%. The Light, Sweet Crude Oil Futures (CL_F) were also climbing higher.

Oil Climbs On Strait Of Hormuz Concerns

Oil futures climbed nearly 2.5% higher in the premarket session, but were still trading below $100 a barrel.

Brent crude futures expiring in July were trading at around $96.64 a barrel at the time of writing, while WTI crude futures expiring in June were trading around $90.80 a barrel.

The spike in prices came after reports emerged that the U.S. military had struck a military site in Bandar Abbas, a strategic port city in Iran, while also shooting down four Iranian attack drones that were viewed as a threat around the Strait of Hormuz.

In response, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had reportedly claimed to have targeted a U.S. air base, adding that the "aggression will not go unanswered."

Meanwhile, Kuwait, home to a U.S. air base, said its air defense systems were responding to “hostile missile and drone threats,” though officials did not identify the source of the attacks.

The latest escalation has further strained an already fragile ceasefire between the two nations. It also marks the second U.S. strike on targets inside Iran in the past three days, with Washington saying the operations were carried out in “self-defense.”

What Does Wall Street Think About Oil Prices?

Citigroup reportedly said in a note released late Wednesday that oil markets were stabilizing as traders increasingly ruled out severe supply disruption risks amid indications that Washington and Iran were edging closer to a potential agreement.

However, the bank warned that uncertainty over the timing of any breakthrough continued to keep central banks cautious, as policymakers considered maintaining tighter monetary policy to counter energy-related inflation pressures, according to a CNBC report.

Citi added that the sustained rally in crude prices was beginning to feed into broader inflation concerns via “second-round effects,” prompting some central banks to adopt a more hawkish stance.

Meanwhile, Robin Brooks, a Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution and a former chief FX strategist and managing director at Goldman Sachs, said earlier in a post on X that the risk for oil is skewed to the downside.

“Every time we’ve had rumors of a peace deal - and there’s been many - Brent futures have dropped about $10. If we get a genuine peace deal now, we’ll get a bigger drop because markets are distrustful after so many false dawns,” Brooks said.

What Do Retail Traders Think About Energy Stocks?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around BATL, SKYQ and TPET was in the ‘bearish’ territory, while it was in the ‘bullish’ territory for INDO and UCO. Sentiment around USO was in the ‘neutral’ territory at the time of writing.

One user said, “What goes down will go back up...market manipulation is alive and well.”

However, another user said, “POTUS is all about deal making & not deal breaking. Trump  shall make a good deal for us and for energy. Shorting crude is in the money, long term too.”

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