The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price is bouncing around today.
The Woodside share price climbed 1.28% in early trade this morning before pulling back. Woodside shares are currently up 0.17% and are trading at $35.16 apiece. For perspective, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is climbing 0.23% at the time of writing.
Let's take a look at what is going on at Woodside.
What's happening?
Oil and gas producers are showing relatively little movement up or down on the ASX today. The Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) share price is 0.35% in the green today, while Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) shares are down 0.49%. The S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) is climbing 0.32% today.
The brent crude oil price is currently up 0.88% to US$78.68 a barrel, while WTI crude oil is up 0.87% to US$73.81 a barrel, according to Bloomberg. The natural gas price is climbing 0.87% to US$6.64 per MMBtu at last look.
Woodside has today expressed concerns about the Federal Government's plan to "intervene" in the Australian gas market.
This follows Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announcing a plan to roll out price caps for domestic coal and gas sales. Federal Parliament is due to vote on the plan on Thursday.
In a release today, Woodside has called on the Federal Government to reconsider its "unprecedented intervention" and bring energy companies, retailers and other stakeholders together to create a solution.
Commenting on the gas market today, CEO Meg O'Neill said:
The policy will not address falling domestic gas supply and the increasingly critical role of gas in providing dispatchable power. These are the primary factors that are driving higher energy prices in the east coast gas market, rather than solely the impact of the tragic war in Ukraine.
We need to unlock gas supply now. For example, Woodside has been looking at options to increase supply, including through new LNG import terminals, exploration spending and further development on the east coast. Unfortunately, the proposed market intervention will make it very difficult for industry to economically invest to increase supply
Woodside share price snapshot
The Woodside share price has soared 58% in the last year.
Woodside has a market capitalisation of about $66.7 billion based on the current share price.
