New York, Jan 9, 2026, 06:38 EST — Premarket
- Exxon Mobil rose 3.7% and Chevron gained 2.6% in U.S. premarket trading, tracking firmer crude prices.
- The White House is due to meet oil majors, traders and drillers on Venezuela later on Friday, keeping supply headlines in focus.
- Traders are weighing supply disruption risks in Iran and uncertainty over Venezuelan exports, even as inventories have been rising and the market talks of oversupply.
Exxon Mobil was up $4.42, or 3.7%, in premarket trading on Friday, while Chevron added $4.08, or 2.6%, as oil-linked names caught a bid. ConocoPhillips rose 5.1%, while oilfield services firms Halliburton and SLB were also higher.
Moves in the group have turned on Venezuela again, with Washington pulling executives into a White House meeting that could shape who gets to market Venezuelan crude and where barrels end up. The guest list includes producers, refiners, traders and services firms, according to a White House official.
That matters because crude prices have been swinging between geopolitics and the drumbeat of ample supply, and any shift in sanctioned Venezuelan flows can hit U.S. Gulf Coast balances quickly. ConocoPhillips said its CEO would attend and it was watching Venezuela for “potential implications for global energy supply and stability.” reuters.com
In oil markets, Brent futures were up 43 cents, or 0.7%, at $62.42 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $58.17. “Iran protests seem to be gathering momentum, leading the market to worry about disruptions,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity analysis at Saxo Bank. reuters.com
The Venezuela story is messy too. “The market will focus on the outcome in the coming days for how the Venezuelan oil in storage will be sold and delivered,” Tina Teng, market strategist at Moomoo ANZ, said. reuters.com
Investors are not treating a Venezuela return as a straight win for U.S. majors, even if the White House pitches it that way. “Investors will want to see long-lasting stability and good fiscal terms to protect against the risk of asset nationalization,” said David Byrns, a portfolio manager at American Century Investments, a major shareholder in both Chevron and Exxon. reuters.com
Company fundamentals are still tied to the last quarter’s softer crude. A regulatory filing showed Exxon said lower oil prices could cut fourth-quarter upstream earnings — the segment that produces oil and gas — by about $800 million to $1.2 billion, though stronger refining margins could partly offset that hit.
A big risk is that supply simply overwhelms the headlines. Morgan Stanley estimated the oil market could run a surplus of as much as 3 million barrels per day in the first half of 2026, and traders this week have pointed to expectations for ample global supply; U.S. crude inventories fell last week but fuel stockpiles rose, official data showed.
Next up: the White House meeting outcome later on Friday, followed by the next U.S. weekly inventory report on Jan. 14. Investors also have Jan. 30 circled for Exxon’s earnings call and Chevron’s quarterly earnings conference call.
