S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy shares are jumping higher today, helping the ASX 200 rise by 0.5% at the time of writing.
The 2022 calendar year has been a volatile period for energy stocks. For example, the last month shows the Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price has dropped around 10%, yet it's still up by 37% for the year.
Let's look at the current state of play with some of the biggest players on the ASX.
The Woodside share price is up 2.6% today.
The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is up 2.4%.
The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price is up by 3.4%.
Those numbers imply sizeable outperformance compared to the broader ASX 200. However, there are gains for other ASX 200 shares such as BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP), Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) and Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG).
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What's going on?
ASX 200 energy shares can be heavily influenced by what happens with commodity prices.
A key factor for profitability for resource businesses is the price that they can get for their commodity.
It can cost almost the same to extract a resource out of the ground whether that price is US$10 higher or US$10 lower than it was before. This means that higher commodity prices can largely fall straight onto the net profit after tax (NPAT) after paying income tax.
According to Commsec, overnight the oil price rose by around 4%. So, perhaps unsurprisingly, ASX's oil and gas giants have gone up by a somewhat similar level.
Bloomberg reported that "China may let local governments sell 1.5 trillion yuan ($220 billion) of special bonds in the second half. The cash would mostly be used for infrastructure spending to shore up an economy hit by COVID lockdowns and a housing slump."
It has also been reported by Bloomberg that "a key export route for Kazakh oil risks being suspended as it appeals a Russian court order for it to temporarily shut down." The relationship between supply and demand can have an important impact on commodity prices.
ASX 200 energy share price snapshot
Over the last six months, the Woodside share price has gone up 34% and the Beach Energy share price has risen 30%. However, the Santos share price has only gone up 3% over the past six months.
