New York, March 1, 2026, 11:17 (EST) — The market is closed.
- Exxon Mobil finished Friday’s session at $152.50, gaining 2.7%.
- Brent crude traded near $80 a barrel in weekend over-the-counter action, following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
- OPEC+ has signed off on a 206,000 barrel-per-day production hike starting April. Still, traders’ attention is glued to Hormuz shipping lanes.
Exxon Mobil Corporation shares start the week with oil traders bracing for a supply jolt. Brent crude prices jumped roughly 10%, changing hands at about $80 a barrel in weekend over-the-counter action—those are private deals happening outside regular futures trading hours. The rally came after U.S. and Israeli strikes hit Iran, stoking worries about a broader supply hit. 1
Exxon (XOM) wrapped up Friday at $152.50, up 2.67%, with shares bouncing from $149.25 to $153.65 during the session. After the bell, the stock edged higher. Investors now watch for Monday’s open to gauge how energy names recalibrate to the move in oil over the weekend. 2
OPEC+ announced on Sunday it’ll bump up production by 206,000 barrels per day starting in April—a move the group says amounts to less than 0.2% of world supply. “Prices will respond to developments in the Gulf and the status of shipping flows, not to a relatively small increase in output,” said Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy and a former OPEC official. 3
Tension hung over Friday’s session. U.S. crude finished 2.78% higher at $67.02 a barrel, with Brent closing up 2.45% at $72.48. Wall Street’s major indexes slipped, pressured by investor worries over pricey pockets in the tech sector. 4
Oil prices jumped heading into the weekend, after a jittery Friday session. “Uncertainty prevails, fear is pushing prices higher today,” said Tamas Varga at PVM. With U.S.-Iran nuclear talks extended, DBS’s Suvro Sarkar noted, “military strikes are in no way out of the equation.” 5
Sunday’s shipping data pointed to tankers halting their advance. Reuters, citing MarineTraffic figures, estimated that over 150 crude and LNG ships were anchored in open Gulf waters outside the Strait of Hormuz, with dozens more idling further along. 6
The previous day, sources told Reuters that tanker operators, oil majors and some trading firms had put a halt on crude, fuel and LNG shipments through Hormuz after Tehran announced it had shut navigation. Laura Page of consultancy Kpler tracked 14 LNG tankers either slowing, changing course or coming to a stop, and expects more vessels to join that count. 7
Still, the same geopolitical risk that might inflate Exxon’s paper profits has a dark side. Three tankers took damage off the Gulf coast, and BIMCO’s Jakob Larsen warned the incidents “dramatically increases the security risk” for vessels transiting the Persian Gulf. According to Marsh’s Dylan Mortimer, hull insurance rates in the region could jump anywhere from 25% to 50% in the near future. That premium in crude prices? If shipping resumes smoothly, it could disappear just as quickly as it arrived. 8
Exxon continues to rely on buybacks and dividends to support its shares. The company has outlined plans to repurchase up to $20 billion in stock by 2026, provided market conditions hold steady. For the first quarter, Exxon set its dividend at $1.03 a share, with payment scheduled for March 10.
Two sources told Reuters ahead of Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting that the group was considering a bigger supply hike than initially planned. Saudi Arabia and the UAE had already lifted exports, bracing for possible market fallout. The eight-member bloc—Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria and Oman—remains in focus for any additional supply changes, with traders likely to keep a close eye as the week unfolds. 9
What’s next? The immediate driver: a full repricing across oil futures and energy stocks as U.S. trading picks up on Monday, March 2. Hormuz tanker traffic is set to dominate the risk narrative.
