(Bloomberg) -- Oil traders are continuing to snap up bullish options contracts as risks mount of an escalation in the war between Israel and Hamas that could drive crude higher.

The number of call options traded has outpaced the volume of bearish puts every day for almost a month, according to ICE Futures Europe data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the longest such run since February. 

While crude futures are up more than 10% since the latest crisis in the Middle East began, the options market has seen even larger swings. Traders are paying the biggest premiums for calls over puts since April last year, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine roiled markets. Brent crude was trading above $93 a barrel on Friday. 

“It’s definitely much better to be toward the upside, call options, that sort of thing,” Nadia Martin Wiggen, a director at Svelland Capital, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “Going into these weekends, things could really jump off.”

--With assistance from Dani Burger and Manus Cranny.

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