Why did the Woodside share price hit a 2-year high on Thursday?

The Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) share price enjoyed another day in the green on Thursday.

At market close, Woodside shares were up 1.98% at $35.51 apiece. However, soon after market open, they reached $36.20 — a two-year high. In fact, in the last couple of years, the ASX oil share has risen by 75%.

Let’s take a look at what might be pushing the Woodside share price higher.

What happened today?

According to Bloomberg, China’s State Council outlined a 19-point policy stimulus package of 1 trillion yuan, or $210 billion.

This funding is focused on infrastructure spending as a way to drive economic growth following the dampening impact of COVID lockdowns and a property market downturn.

This presents a favourable tailwind for Woodside as greater infrastructure spending means more demand for steel and metals.

Woodside would be pleased to hear some positive news after the US and China reported weaker than expected economic data last week. China cut interest rates upon poor data on industrial output and retail sales, missing most analyst estimates as reported by Reuters.

Additionally, the price of Woodside’s key commodity rose for a third straight session on Thursday, Trading Economics reports. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures rose above $95 per barrel, while Brent crude oil futures soared to $102 per barrel — the highest prices in three weeks.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the Woodside share price also rose for a third straight session today.

A quick recap of Woodside’s most recent results

Last month, Woodside released its results for the three months ending 30 June, as my colleague Bernd Struben reported.

Q2 2022 saw the oil producer achieve revenue of $3.44 billion, up 44% from Q1 2022 and 159% from Q1 2021. Woodside also produced 33.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe), a 60% increase from the prior quarter and up 49% from Q2 2021.

Additionally, the company reported sales volume of 35.8 MMboe, up 51% from Q1 2022 and up 27% on Q1 2021.

These results were spearheaded by Woodside’s merger with the petroleum business of BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). This big event catapulted Woodside into a top 10 global independent energy producer by hydrocarbon production.

Woodside share price snapshot

The Woodside share price has jumped 75% in the past year, 57% year to date, and 12% in the past month.

For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 6% in the past 12 months and 7% so far this year, but is up by almost 4% in the last month.

Woodside has a market capitalisation of around $66.1 billion.

The company is currently trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 11.94x. On a historical basis, this is on the lower end, so it could be that the poor economic outlook and macroeconomic activity are instilling pessimism in the market.

The post Why did the Woodside share price hit a 2-year high on Thursday? appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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More reading

• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Thursday
• What boosted the Woodside share price on Wednesday?
• Why is the Woodside share price having such a cracker of a day?
• 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Monday
• Here are the top 10 ASX 200 shares today

Motley Fool contributor Raymond Jang has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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