The Oil Search Ltd (ASX: OSH) share price is off to a great start this week. Shares are currently up 2.3% to $4.33 per share.
And it's not just the Oil Search share price lifting off today.
Fellow S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy share Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) is up 2.8% at time of writing. And Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) is up 2.7%.
This as the ASX 200 itself has given back its early morning gains and is currently down 0.2%.
So, what's helping boost ASX 200 energy shares?
Image source: Getty Images
Energy markets remain tight
The answer to that question lies in the rapidly increasing demand for crude oil amid sluggish increases in supply.
As the world emerges from COVID-19 lockdowns, more factories are returning to full operation, more ships are plying the oceans, and more airplanes are taking wing.
Yet, in good news for the Oil Search share price, global crude output is only increasing at a trickle. Well, a 400,000 barrel per month trickle.
Last Thursday (overnight Aussie time) OPEC+ announced that it was sticking with its production schedule. That schedule sees the cartel of oil producing nations ramping up its self-restricted crude output by 400,000 barrels per month.
That's less than the monthly increase in global demand. And it's seeing crude price again trend higher.
Over the weekend Brent crude oil popped 3.1%, from US$80.54 per barrel to US$83.03 per barrel. Just 1 year ago that same barrel was trading for a lowly US$42.40 per barrel, according to data from Bloomberg.
Certainly a nice tailwind for Oil Search shareholders.
Oil Search share price snapshot
Amid soaring energy prices, the Oil Search share price has rocketed 52% over the past 12 months. That well outpaces the 18% gains posted by the ASX 200 over that same time.
Oil Search shares are down 4% over the past month.
