The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is on fire today, up a healthy 3.18% so far to $6.16 a share at the time of writing. In contrast, the broader S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 0.16% so far this Monday to 7,500 points.
So why is the Santos share price outperforming today with so much enthusiasm?
Well, there are no major announcements out of this ASX 200 energy share today.
So let's take a look at what's happening with the crude oil price. Santos, as an ASX energy share, is exposed to this metric arguably above all others.
Higher crude oil prices turbocharge ASX 200 energy shares
Well, it might be no surprise to reveal then, that crude oil prices have also been on fire over the weekend. The price of Brent crude is currently trading at US$72.70 a barrel, up 2.3% in the past 24 hours. Its sister commodity, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude, is also up 1.96% over the same period to US$68.74 a barrel at the time of writing.
If this is the reason why the Santos share price is on the up today, then surely we would be seeing similar moves in other ASX 200 energy shares. Well, it turns out, we are.
Santos isn't the only one on the rise today. This Monday also sees Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) shares up a healthy 1.17% so far to $1.08 a share. Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) is also up by 2.43% to $3.80 a share, as is BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), up 3% today.
This indicates that higher energy prices are buoying the entire ASX 200 energy sector today.
About the Santos share price
Although Santos shares are having their time in the sun today, the past few months haven't been too kind to investors. Even after today's substantial rally, Santos shares remain down 4.2% year to date in 2021 so far.
Saying that, this company is still up 8.5% over the past 12 months, and also up by more than 43% over the past 5 years. That underperforms the ASX 200 over the past year (the ASX 200 was up 23.73%), but just pips it over 5 years (39.57%).
At the current Santos share price, the company has a market capitalisation of $12.8 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 32.6, and a dividend yield of 2.28%.
