UPDATE 1-Global energy shares drop as oil plunges after US-Iran ceasefire

U.S. and European energy ​stocks slid on Wednesday as oil prices tumbled ​after a two-week Middle East ceasefire raised hopes ‌for ​a resumption of oil and gas supply through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday agreed to the ceasefire less than two hours before his deadline ‌for Iran to reopen the strait or face devastating attacks on its civilian infrastructure. The ceasefire follows a six-week conflict that drove oil prices sharply higher, forcing governments and companies to scramble for cover against a sudden energy shock.

Oil prices slumped below $100 per barrel ‌on Wednesday, with Brent futures hitting their lowest in nearly a month at $91.70 after record monthly gains in March ‌as the Middle East conflict disrupted global oil supplies. "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.

Shares ​of U.S. energy majors Exxon ⁠Mobil and Chevron were down 6.3% and 4.6%, respectively, in premarket trading. Oil and gas producers Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy and ConocoPhillips fell between 5% to ⁠8%. Oilfield services companies Baker Hughes and SLB lost 2.6% and 4.1%, respectively.

Refiners Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 shed 3% and 5%, respectively. LNG ​exporters Venture Global, which had benefited from its relatively larger exposure to spot prices, and Cheniere were down 11.1% ⁠and about 7%, respectively.

Soaring oil prices had helped U.S. energy stocks log their strongest quarter on record in January-March. The S&P 500 Energy Index gained ⁠about ​37.2% in the first quarter, making it the top-performing sector in the benchmark S&P 500, which fell roughly 4.6% during the same period. In Europe, Britain's BP and Shell, Italy's Eni, France's TotalEnergies and Spain's Repsol were all down about 6% ⁠to 9%.

Norway's Equinor slumped 12.5%, while domestic peers Var Energi and Aker BP, which had benefited from disruptions to Qatar gas ⁠flows, lost 11.3% and 2.6%, ⁠respectively. Europe's oil & gas sector was the worst performer, shedding 4.3% and on track for its biggest daily fall since April 2025. The index is still up almost 30% so far in ‌2026.