Crude is up nearly 13 percent from its recent low, making energy one of the best-performing sectors this month — and there could be more room to run for the biggest company in the space: ExxonMobil.
ExxonMobil shares are up nearly 11 percent in 2016 and sitting less than 10 percent from their 52-week high made earlier this summer — the XLE energy ETF touched a 12-month high in early trade Tuesday. According to Dan Nathan of RiskReversal.com, at least one options trader expects the rally to continue.
"There was one trade that caught my eye," Nathan said Monday on CNBC's "Fast Money." One trader bought 2,000 of the December 30 quarterly 88-strike calls for $1.37 each. This is a bullish bet that the stock will rise above $89.37 by the end of next month, or up 3.5 percent from the trading price.
"Maybe this thing can get back up to those highs and have a little bit of a breakout into year end," Nathan said.
Shares of ExxonMobil were trading around the $86 level during Tuesday's session.
