After being cooped up for a year, the world is beginning to turn again. People are getting back out, commuting, and booking trips.

And gas prices are riding the wave, with some areas seeing prices up over $1 per gallon from a year ago.

With low supply and the 4th of July weekend ahead, there’s no real resistance here.

Not to mention, this is setting up to be the summer of road trips. And I’m not sure if high gas prices will be enough to stop people from getting out there. I know I don’t want to be stuck inside anymore.

While the price of gas may be hitting my pocket book, it doesn’t have to affect my trading.

In fact, I just made a trade in an oil exploration company, here’s why…

88 Energy Ltd. (EEENF)

As an oil exploration and appraisal company, 88 Energy (EEENF) has four prospective project areas in Alaska, currently ranging in progress from development to exploration.

Not exactly a play on current oil prices, but they are working on taking advantage…and the company just sold their Alaskan Oil and Gas tax credits to become debt free as they progress.

That in turn sparked a nice move that popped up on my scans.

When it comes to trading any stock, I’m mainly interested in finding my favorite setups.

And EEENF just happened to set up with a consolidation breakout.

This setup consists of a stock that has been trading in a range and then makes a move to break above the top of the range.

Take a look at the EEENF chart below:

The stock was trading in a tight consolidation range between .015 and .249.

The trade I look for is when the stock breaks above the consolidation range (upper blue line on the chart).

Now the move can go either way of course and there’s no timeline on when it will happen, so it’s key to be patient and just observe.

On Thursday, EEENF hit my scanners as it broke above the consolidation range with a spike in volume and I jumped in at .02726.

I look for a spike in volume as confirmation which also provides liquidity for me to get in and out on the move.

From there I am just looking for an out…and I got that the next day as the momentum from the breakout continued with a gap up in the morning. I pulled the trade off just above .034 as it was having trouble holding the .035 level.

The chart below is a 5 minute chart for a closer look at the gap up and exit area.

I got out, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s done. It may keep going, or it may pull back.

The fact is, I don’t know for sure and that’s exactly why I had a quick momentum target on this trade. I wasn’t looking to be holding too many things over the long weekend here.

And with the gap up, the breakout trade gave me what I wanted…so I took it.

I try not to get greedy with my trades and that has actually saved me plenty of times.

But that’s a lesson for another time.

For more on the consolidation breakout setup, read this…