The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price has been a positive performer in morning trade.
At the time of writing the energy producer's shares are up over 2.5% to $7.00.
Why is the Santos share price on the rise today?
One catalyst for today's share price gain is likely to be news that oil prices climbed to five-month highs overnight due to expectations for tighter global supply because of clashes in Libya, OPEC-led cuts, and U.S. sanctions against Iran and Venezuela.
According to CNBC, the WTI crude oil price closed the U.S. session 2.1% higher at US$64.40 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price was 1% higher at US$71.03 a barrel.
The good news for Santos and energy producer peers Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT), Oil Search Limited (ASX: OSH), and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) is that oil prices have built on this and continued to climb during Asian trade.
What else has happened?
In addition to rising oil prices, this morning Santos announced the successful completion of the Moomba South Patchawarra Formation phase 1 appraisal program in the Cooper Basin.
According to the release, the Moomba South appraisal program is the first of several large-scale project appraisal phases in the Cooper Basin focused on contingent resource maturation.
The company's managing director and chief executive officer, Kevin Gallagher, was pleased with the program.
He said: "I am very pleased that the Moomba South phase 1 appraisal program has confirmed a significant gas resource and resulted in seven new wells now producing in the Cooper. The program also successfully targeted two exciting new plays in the Granite Wash and Fractured Granite which have the potential to add significant new resources. Testing of both plays resulted in stable gas flows to surface."
Should you invest?
If you believe oil prices will continue to climb higher then Santos could prove to be a good investment option. However, if you're not overly bullish then you might want to hold fire for now and wait for a better entry point.
