Finance
Traders pile into $80 US oil bets as tensions rise in Middle East
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 13, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Traders are heavily investing in $80 WTI oil call options due to rising tensions in the Middle East, with Israeli airstrikes on Iran causing oil prices to surge.
(Reuters) -Traders on Friday exchanged the most $80 West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil call options since January, expecting more upside to prices after Israeli airstrikes on Iran sparked fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
Call options grant the holder a right to buy futures contract at the preset price and date, and a rise in volumes can help gauge market sentiment.
About 33,411 contracts of August-2025 $80 call options for WTI crude oil were traded on Friday on a total trading volume of 681,000 contracts, marking the highest volume for these options this year, according to CME Group data.
The last time trading was this high for $80 call contracts was on January 10, with 17,030 February-2025 $80 call options traded on a total trading volume of 301,866 contracts.
Oil prices jumped on Friday and settled 7% higher as Israel and Iran launched air strikes, feeding investor worries that the combat could widely disrupt oil exports from the Middle East.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $72.98 a barrel, up $4.94, or 7.62%. During the session, WTI jumped over 14% to its highest since January 21 at $77.62.
(Reporting by Noel John in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Georgina McCartney and Diane Craft)
Israeli airstrikes on Iran have sparked fears of disruptions in oil exports from the Middle East, leading to increased trading activity.
On Friday, about 33,411 contracts of August-2025 $80 call options for WTI crude oil were traded, marking the highest volume this year.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude finished at $72.98 a barrel, up $4.94, or 7.62%, with a session high of $77.62.
The last time trading was this high for $80 call contracts was on January 10, when 17,030 February-2025 $80 call options were traded.
A rise in call option volumes can help gauge market sentiment, indicating traders' expectations for future price increases.
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