Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares both raced ahead of the 1.8% gains delivered by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in January. And one stock significantly outperformed the other.
Woodside closed out December trading for $23.59 a share. At market close on 30 January, shares were changing hands for $25.37 apiece. This saw Woodside shares up 7.6% for the month.
But Santos stockholders fared even better.
Santos shares closed on 31 December at $6.17 each. On 30 January, shares closed the day trading for $7.01 apiece, putting Santos shares up 13.6% for the first month of 2026.
Both ASX 200 energy shares enjoyed a strong uplift in global oil prices over the month.
Spurred by the United States military action in Venezuela and fears of a larger-scale conflict with Iran, the Brent crude oil price soared from US$60.75 per barrel on 2 January to US$70.69 per barrel on 30 January, up 16.4%.
Both ASX 200 energy shares also reported their quarterly results in January.
Here's what grabbed investor interest.
Woodside shares gain on record full-year production
Woodside shares closed up 2.7% on 28 January following the release of the company's December quarter update.
Investors reacted positively, with Woodside reporting all-time high production of 198.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe). That exceeded the company's full-year guidance of 192MMboe to 197MMboe.
Woodside achieved that new milestone despite a 4% quarter-on-quarter fall in production to 48.9 MMboe.
And despite a year-on-year decline in average realised prices, Woodside's full-year revenue of US$12.94 billion was in line with 2024.
On the major growth project front, the company reported its Scarborough Energy Project was 94% complete, with first LNG still targeted for Q4 2026. And Woodside's Trion Project is now 50% complete, with first oil targeted in 2028.
Santos shares leap on free cash flow surge
Santos' outperformance of Woodside shares in January was in part driven by an even more positive investor response to Santos' own December quarterly update.
Santos shares closed up 5.3% on 22 January after the company reported a 5% quarter-on-quarter increase in production to 22.3 MMboe.
And Santos' free cash flow from operations surged 30% from the September quarter to $380 million, with $1.23 billion in sales revenue up 9%.
As for Santos' major growth projects, the Barossa LNG project commenced LNG production, with its first cargo loaded for delivery to Japan in January.
And drilling at the company's Pikka phase 1 project in Alaska was reported to be nearing completion.
Santos and Woodside share price snapshot
Despite the strong run in January, Santos shares remain down 4% over the past 12 months (at the time of writing).
Woodside shares are up 1.8% over this same period.
