New York, March 2, 2026, 18:09 (EST) — After-hours.
- Chevron (CVX) rose about 1.5% and held near $189.60 after the close.
- Crude prices jumped on Middle East supply fears and shipping disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Israel ordered a temporary shut-in at Chevron-operated Leviathan gas field offshore Israel.
Chevron Corp shares ended higher on Monday and were little changed after hours, last near $189.60 after a surge in oil prices pulled money into big energy names. 1
Oil prices jumped as much as 13% intraday to above $82 a barrel, the highest since January 2025, as conflict in the Gulf slowed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a chokepoint for roughly a fifth of global oil flows. Israel also instructed Chevron to temporarily shut in (a short-term production stoppage) the giant Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean, and a company spokesperson said Chevron’s facilities were safe. “The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft. 2
Brent crude, the global benchmark, settled up 6.7% at $77.74 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark, closed up 6.3% at $71.23. “Key questions are how much supply will be lost, for how long, and how do major powers react?” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman at S&P Global. JPMorgan warned a three- to four-week squeeze on Hormuz traffic could push Brent above $100, even as OPEC+, the producer group led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed on Sunday to raise output by 206,000 barrels per day in April. 3
The oil shock is already showing up at the pump. Average U.S. retail gasoline prices crossed $3 a gallon for the first time since November, and could rise to as high as $3.25 this week, Tom Kloza, senior adviser to fuel supplier Gulf Oil, told Reuters. “Gasoline prices are psychologically powerful,” said Mark Malek, chief investment officer at Siebert Financial. 4
The broader tape was choppy, but energy held up as investors priced in higher fuel costs and the risk of another inflation flare-up. “A lot of the worry today is about inflation and oil because of the conflict happening in the Middle East,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at 248 Ventures. 5
Chevron’s move broadly tracked the sector. Exxon Mobil gained 1.1%, while Occidental Petroleum rose 2.1% and ConocoPhillips jumped 4.2%, Barron’s reported, as traders bought oil producers as a direct bet on higher crude. 6
But the setup cuts both ways. If shipping resumes and attacks ease, the risk premium in crude could deflate fast, taking some of the air out of energy shares that have run with the headlines.
For Chevron, the near-term focus is less about quarterly guidance and more about operational updates: when Leviathan can restart, and whether the conflict widens into longer interruptions for regional oil and gas flows. The company’s upstream business tends to benefit when crude rises, but sudden outages and policy moves can still bite.
Ahead of Tuesday’s session, traders will be watching crude’s next leg — and the next headline out of the Gulf — alongside the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report due March 4 for a fresh read on inventories. 7
