SECTOR SCANNER

Best Energy Covered Calls — April 2026

Energy stocks carry elevated IV from oil price volatility, making them a consistent source of covered call premium. XOM, CVX, and exploration names offer strong yields.

Quick Answer

Today's top Energy covered call is SM — the Apr 17 $27.5 Call at 7592.0% annualized return with 41.0% downside protection. Our scanner found 20 Energy candidates today with an average yield of 839.2%.

Candidates Today
20
Energy sector
Avg Annualized Return
839.2%
across all candidates
Avg IV
54%
implied volatility
Top Yield
7592.0%
SM
Suggested Delta
0.25–0.35
recommended range
Optimal DTE
21–30 days
days to expiration

Live Energy Scanner

#TickerLast PriceStrikeExpiryDTEAnnual. ReturnDownsideDeltaIVOICCL Score
1SM$27.33$28Apr 172d7592.0%41.0%1401
2DVN$45.23$48Apr 172d1133.3%0.1%0.0950%5770
3MUR$38.22$40Apr 172d969.1%0.7%0.2078%4,4970
4XOM$149.01$155Apr 172d755.6%0.1%0.1040%9,5730
5UUUU$21.00$22Apr 172d730.0%1.6%0.3796%9511
6UEC$14.82$15Apr 172d578.5%2.0%0.4492%3,8731
7HAL$37.54$39Apr 172d543.9%0.4%0.2543%3060
8KMI$31.70$33Apr 172d483.6%0.1%0.1527%3180
9UUUU$21.00$21Apr 172d478.2%2.6%0.5098%3,5281
10OXY$55.83$57Apr 172d463.6%0.4%0.2740%6590

Why Energy for Covered Calls?

Energy stocks carry structurally elevated implied volatility tied to oil price movements, geopolitical risk, and supply/demand dynamics. This makes them consistent covered call premium generators — XOM, CVX, OXY, and exploration names like DVN and FANG regularly appear in our top-yield rankings. The sector's correlation to WTI crude creates predictable IV expansion around OPEC meetings, inventory reports, and geopolitical events. Covered call writers can exploit these patterns by entering positions when IV is elevated and targeting shorter DTE windows.

Strategic Parameters

IV ProfileHigh
Target Delta0.25–0.35
DTE Window21–30 days
Risk LevelModerate

Energy moves with oil — watch WTI and geopolitical events. Delta 0.25–0.35. Avoid holding into OPEC announcement windows.

Frequently Asked Questions — Energy Covered Calls

What Energy stocks are best for covered calls?

SM leads today with 7592.0% annualized return. Our scanner found 20 active Energy covered call candidates.

The Energy sector currently shows an average implied volatility of 54% across active covered call candidates. IV profile: High (commodity-driven, average IV: 35–65%).

For Energy stocks, we recommend targeting delta 0.25–0.35. This balances premium income with upside participation and downside protection.

The optimal DTE window for Energy covered calls is 21–30 days. This captures the steepest theta decay while limiting exposure to major price moves.

Our scanner runs daily after market close (4:30 PM ET). Sector pages refresh automatically within 1 hour of scan completion. Data shown reflects the most recent scan.

The CCL Score is CoveredCalls.live's proprietary ranking metric. It weights annualized return (45%), bid-ask spread quality (25%), downside protection (15%), and open interest/delta factors (15%). Higher scores indicate better risk-adjusted opportunities.