The Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) share price is one to watch in early trade. Shares in the Aussie oil and gas giant have jumped 2.5% this morning in good news for shareholders. At the time of writing, the Woodside share price has retreated slightly, trading for $26.05, up 2.28%.
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Why is the Woodside share price climbing?
For one thing, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has started strongly after a soft end last week.
One of the biggest factors driving the Woodside share price higher this morning, however, has been rising crude oil prices.
Woodside is the largest operator of oil and gas production in Australia. Additionally, it is Australia's largest independent dedicated oil and gas company.
That means the Woodside share price tends to move in step with crude oil prices which have a direct impact on revenues and profitability.
Friday night saw crude oil prices climb higher which has translated to strong share price momentum this morning.
According to Bloomberg, the West Texas Instruments (WTI) crude oil price rose 1.6% to US$67.15 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price climbed 1.5% to US$70.42 a barrel.
That continues the strong rebound in recent days for the global commodity, largely driven by international oil cartel OPEC holding firm with its production cuts.
Strong US economic data has also boosted hopes of a rebound in oil demand and therefore stronger pricing.
Those oil price gains have seen the Woodside share price surge higher in early trade. However, not all ASX energy shares have been seeing gains to kick off the trading week.
Despite the oil price gains, shares in rival Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) have slid lower this morning.
The Santos share price has fallen from its $7.76 per share Friday closing price after its largest shareholder sold 107.1 million or 5.14% of shares on issue.
ENN Group sold down the shares in an oversubscribed process at $7.33 per share and retains a 9.97% stake in Santos.
