Shares in Melbana Energy Ltd (ASX: MAY) are edging lower today and now trade 3% in the red at 14 cents apiece.
The oil and gas explorer has jumped more than 52% in the past month of trade as energy shares ride the wave of geopolitical tensions that are sending commodity markets into overdrive.
Since February 1 2022, it has exploded more than 508% to the time of writing as investors continue driving up the price on enormous volume today.
What's up with the Melbana Energy share price?
A series of positive catalysts have spiked the needle for Melbana over the last couple of months.
Melbana shares spiked hard in early February after the company announced an important update at its Alameda-1 exploration well in its Block 9 contract area onshore Cuba.
Further gains arrived after the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) awarded the company a petroleum exploration permit off the coast of WA.
Returns were extended in March when Melbana announced it intersected oil at its site in Cuba. This couldn't have come at a more perfect time with Brent Crude setting record highs at the time.
At the time, Melbana Energy executive chair Andrew Purcell said the well "continues to have plenty to say to us and we're enjoying hearing it".
Aside from that, oil markets have continued to surge in 2022, with Brent Crude – the world's oil pricing benchmark – heading back towards previous highs at US$108 per barrel.
In the last 12 months, the Melbana share price has gained 466% and has exploded 536% this year to date. The bulk of the gains has been achieved in the last 2 months in both time frames.
