Crude oil prices crashed more than 13% on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump held off on military strikes against Iran and Tehran agreed to a two-week ceasefire, reopening the Strait of Hormuz. This move puts domestic oil & gas companies in the spotlight, ONGC, IOC, BPCL, Oil India, and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to see sharp price action ntra-day.
Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) was up about 7.53% and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) gained 5.85%, while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) rose 0.91%. In contrast, Oil And Natural Gas Corporation declined 1.24% and Oil India slipped 0.34%. Reliance Industries saw a modest uptick of 0.45% in the same snapshot.
US crude futures sank 14.7% to $96.27 a barrel, while Brent crude dropped 14.4% to $93.48, according to the Associated Press. Both benchmarks remain well above pre-war levels crude had briefly crossed $117 a barrel during Tuesday’s session before settling at $112.95 but the scale of the single-day drop is the kind of move that directly compresses upstream realizations while offering downstream relief.
Crude meltdown: What happened overnight
Late Tuesday, Trump announced he was pulling back from threatened strikes on Iranian bridges, power plants, and civilian infrastructure, contingent on a two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council confirmed its acceptance of the ceasefire, and Iran’s foreign minister stated that passage through the strait would be permitted for the next two weeks under Iranian military management, as reported by the Associated Press.
The announcement triggered an immediate rally in US equity futures. S&P 500 futures jumped 2.2% and Dow futures rose 930 points, or 2%, as of 8:05 p.m. ET. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei climbed more than 4% and South Korea’s Kospi gained 6%.
US market action on April 7
Tuesday’s regular trading session in the US was anything but calm. The S&P 500 swung as much as 1.2% lower after Trump threatened that a “whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” if Iran did not meet his 8 p.m. Eastern deadline to open the Strait. The market then reversed sharply after Pakistan’s prime minister publicly urged Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks and simultaneously called on Iran to open the strait for the same period, as per Associated Press.
The S&P 500 ultimately ended the session with a thin gain of 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 85 points, or 0.2%, while the Nasdaq composite edged up 0.1%.
What this means for Indian OMCs and upstream players
For India’s oil marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation, BPCL, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation lower crude is can be positive. These companies import crude, refine it, and sell petroleum products domestically, often at government-administered prices. When crude runs hot, their marketing margins get squeezed. A 15% drop in a single session gives them breathing room, and the market will likely price that in quickly.
Conclusion
The oil market had been in a state of sustained anxiety since the conflict across West Asia escalated, with crude making a series of sharp moves briefly above $117, then settling, now crashing on ceasefire news. Indian oil and gas stocks have been caught in every one of those swings. Wednesday will be no different. The sector opens with a clear directional catalyst, and how stocks like ONGC, Reliance, BPCL, IOC, and Oil India respond will be one of the clearest reads on how the market is thinking about whether this ceasefire holds.