The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price is down 0.92% at lunchtime on Wednesday, at $36.49 per share.
It marks a partial recovery from its low of $35.71 this morning, a 3% drop on yesterday's closing price.
Unless there's an afternoon reversal in the selling trend, today will mark the fifth consecutive day of losses for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) oil and gas stock darling. All told, that's left the Woodside down almost 6% since the closing bell on Tuesday, 22 November.
So, what's going on?
Image source: Getty Images
What are ASX 200 investors considering?
The Woodside share price has been hit on two fronts over the past week.
First, there's the oil price.
Tuesday last week was the last time the Woodside share price closed in the green. At the time, Brent crude oil was trading for US$88.36 per barrel.
But oil prices have come under pressure over the week. Today that same barrel of oil is worth US$83.03, down 6%.
The fall has been largely driven by concerns that the spike in COVID infections in China, combined with the nation's strict COVID zero lockdown policies, will see a fall in energy demand from the world's most populous nation.
The second headwind hitting the Woodside share price over the past week looks to be the release of the company's FY23 guidance yesterday. This marks the first full year of production since its petroleum transaction with BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).
Woodside forecast production of 180-190 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) for the full financial year, which came in lower than consensus expectations.
And as my Fool colleague James Mickleboro pointed out:
Woodside recently delivered third quarter production of 51.2 MMboe, which annualises to 204.8 MMboe. So, investors could be a touch underwhelmed with FY 2023's production guidance
Woodside share price snapshot
Despite the past five days of selling, the Woodside share price remains up an impressive 68% over the past 12 months. That compares to a flat full-year performance by the ASX 200.
