The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is pushing more than 2% higher on Friday at $7.07.
Energy is the best performing sector today with the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) jumping 2.5% late into the session.
Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the latest statistics related to the energy industry today, and trends are positive.
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Energy industry realises highest growth in May
According to the ABS report, the electricity, gas water and waste services industries increased by around 23% in May. This industry saw the largest gain relative to peers.
"The increase comes as energy supply issues impact the industry, including rising input costs and plant outages," the ABS said.
As a result, the energy industry saw its highest turnover growth in May, joining every other industry recording a year on year increase in business turnover.
The Mining industry saw a 36% gain. The ABS says "[r]ises in commodity prices, including for coal and natural gas, continue to contribute to relatively high growth in turnover in the Mining industry."
Growth translates well for Santos share price
With players in the resources industry recognising such strengths across the back end of Q2 FY22, then it could be that investors are positioning themselves to capture these tailwinds.
Although, it's been no secret that energy markets have surged to unfathomed heights in 2022, so broad market strength is likely a factor as well.
Moreover, energy markets continue to strengthen at pace – European and UK gas contracts have surged 130% over the past month.
The gain suggests a higher realised price for those supplying the markets, but we'll have to wait until earnings time to see the downstream effect.
Whilst today's gain puts the brakes on a fairly rapid decline in the Santos share price, the buying activity is on thin volume – just 40% of the 4-week average.
The Santos share price is also less than 1% in the red for the past 12 months, after falling from a 52-week closing high of $8.47 on 7 June.
