S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) coal shares are having another strong run today.
In morning trade, the Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC) share price is up 7.3% to $8.55 per share.
Meanwhile, rival ASX 200 coal share New Hope Corp Ltd (ASX: NHC) is surging 6.5% to $5.43 per share.
That's well ahead of the 0.2% gain posted by the ASX 200 at the time of writing and also more than twice the 3.4% gains delivered by the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) so far today.
So, what's stoking ASX investor interest in the coal sector today?
What's piquing ASX investor interest?
If you said surging coal prices, give yourself a gold star.
The New Castle coal price now stands at US$435 per tonne, up from US$400 per tonne a week earlier.
That's just shy of the record high of US$440 per tonne coal was trading for on 2 March, and more than 600% higher than it was trading for two years ago when a tonne of coal was worth US$62.
Coal prices, alongside the share prices of ASX 200 coal shares, have been rocketing since energy-rich Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
Hitting back at Western sanctions on its oil and other exports, Russia has been crimping the supplies of gas it sends through its Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which pumps gas from Russia directly into northern Germany.
Now Gazprom, the Russian state-owned company in charge of the pipeline, has shut down the gas indefinitely. Gazprom had been undertaking what it said was unscheduled maintenance on Nord Stream 1 but said due to a "technical fault", gas may not be flowing again any time soon.
With many European nations heavily reliant on Russian gas, demand for coal to keep the lights on and heaters working is ramping up as northern winter approaches.
A difficult and unfortunate situation, to be sure, but certainly one offering some strong tailwinds for ASX 200 coal shares.
How have these ASX 200 coal shares been tracking longer-term?
2022 has seen ASX 200 coal shares deliver some stellar returns.
Since the opening bell on 4 January, the New Hope share price has surged 134% while Whitehaven Coal shares have rocketed 200%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 10% year-to-date.
