ASX energy shares are doing much of the heavy lifting today.
While the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 0.9% in afternoon trading, the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ) is up 2.3%.
And we're seeing three ASX energy shares notching up new one-year highs today.
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Which ASX energy shares are trading at one-year highs?
The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price is up $3.02% to $1.78 at the time of writing, surpassing the $1.77 it was trading for on 7 March. With today's intraday gains factored in, Beach Energy shares are up 36% so far in 2022.
At the current share price, Beach Energy has a market cap of $4.1 billion.
Also hitting one-year highs today is ASX energy share MMA Offshore Ltd (ASX: MRM). The MMA share price is up 5.5% to 67 cents, taking out the 64 cents per share mark set on 28 March. That puts the MMA share price up a blistering 85% year-to-date.
At the current price, the oil and gas explorer has a market cap of $239 million.
And the third energy stock hitting one-year highs in intraday trading today is Horizon Oil Ltd (ASX: HZN), up 3.3% to 16 cents. At the time of writing, this matches its 27 May one-year highs after the share price retraced some in late afternoon trading.
The Horizon Oil share price is now up an impressive 82% in 2022, giving the company a market cap of $245 million.
What's driving ASX investor interest?
Investors have been buying ASX energy shares on the back of soaring energy prices.
Coal, crude oil and gas have all reached multi-year or even all-time highs this year.
While Brent crude oil slipped 1.8% overnight to US$114 per barrel, Brent crude kicked off 2022 trading for US$78 per barrel.
And some market veterans, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, believe that oil will head higher from here and stay elevated for years to come.
Speaking at the Autonomous Research financial services conference yesterday (overnight Aussie time), Dimon cautioned that Russia's war in Ukraine could see crude oil trading in the US$150 to US$175 per barrel range.
According to Dimon (quoted by The Australian Financial Review):
We're not taking the proper actions to protect Europe from what's going to happen in oil in the short run. And we're not taking the proper actions to protect you all from what's going to happen to oil in the next five years, which means it almost has to go up in price.
If crude oil does head to US$175 per barrel, it will take a big bite out of consumers' pockets while offering some strong tailwinds to ASX energy shares.
