The logo of Equinor is set up at the entrance of a building at Western Europe’s largest liquefied natural gas plant Hammerfest LNG in Hammerfest, Norway, March 14, 2024. REUTERS
MILAN, April 8 (Reuters) – European oil and gas stocks fell sharply on Wednesday, and were the only sector in the region to fall, after the two-week ceasefire agreed between the United States and Iran sparked a selloff in energy prices after weeks of strong gains.
Norway’s Equinor led the declines, down 13%, alongside domestic peers Var Energi and Aker BP which had benefited from disruptions to Qatar gas flows after the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Britain’s BP and Shell Italy’s Eni France’s TotalEnergies and Spain’s Repsol were all down around 6% to 9%.
Oil prices sank after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, conditional on the immediate and safe reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures fell 13% to $95.0 a barrel while WTI slid 15%, eroding earnings expectations for energy producers.
Europe’s Oil & Gas index was the worst-performing sector, down 4.3% and on track for its biggest daily fall since April 2025. The index is still up almost 30% so far in 2026.
Reporting by Danilo Masoni, editing by Alun John
