** Shares of U.S. energy companies up premarket, tracking crude prices following Middle East war O/R

** Brent crude futures LCOc1 rose as much as 13% to $82.37 a barrel, the highest since January 2025, before retreating to trade at $79.39 a barrel by 0857 GMT

** U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 climbed to an intraday high of $75.33, up over 12% and the highest since June

** Exxon Mobil XOM.N and Chevron CVX.N up 5.9% and 4.1%, respectively

** Baker Hughes BKR.O gains 5.6%, Conocophillips COP.N up 6.2%

** SM Energy SM.N, Occidental Petroleum OXY.N, Coterra Energy CTRA.N and Devon Energy DVN.N rise between 6% and 7.5%

** Oilfield service providers Halliburton HAL.N and SLB SLB.N gain 5.7% and 4.3%, respectively

(Reporting by Rashika Singh in Bengaluru)