The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price is lagging the benchmark today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) oil and gas stock closed yesterday trading for $33.92. Shares are currently changing hands for $33.47, down 1.3%.
That compares to a loss of 0.5% posted by the ASX 200 at this same time.
So, what's going on?
All eyes on the world's top two economies
With no price-sensitive news out from the company today, the Woodside share price looks to be under some pressure from a sharp retrace in crude oil prices overnight.
Brent crude tumbled to US$77.82 per barrel while West Texas Intermediate crude fell to US$74.76 per barrel.
That puts both global oil benchmarks down approximately 11% over the past two weeks.
Crude – and the Woodside share price – largely trended higher over the first weeks of April. That came after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) surprised the markets by announcing a million barrels per day production cut on 2 April.
But with investors concerned over the demand outlook from the United States and China, the world's top two economies, not even yesterday's inventory report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) – showing a 5.1 million barrel decline in the country's crude inventories – was enough to lift crude prices.
Or, for that matter, the Woodside share price.
Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth, said the inventory decline was "a strong number" (courtesy of Bloomberg).
Babin continued:
But it is not really being reflected in price action because the market wants to see the China demand story play out and is still betting the US slows down significantly in the second half.
Indeed, from declining iron ore prices to sliding oil prices, the big uptick in demand the market had priced in from China's reopening is taking longer to materialise than most analysts had forecast.
Woodside share price snapshot
The Woodside share price has seen its fair share of ups and downs, mostly moving higher or lower on fluctuating oil and gas prices.
With more ups than downs, Woodside shares have gained 8% over the past 12 months.
