Overall, it's turning out to be a pretty pleasant day so far and end to the trading week for the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) this Friday. At the time of writing, the ASX 200 is up a healthy 0.76% at back over 7,200 points. ASX 200 energy shares are one of the sectors experiencing 'a whole lotta love' on the markets today.
So let's see which ones have just smashed their 52-week highs.
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3 ASX 200 energy shares smashing new highs today
Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) is our first energy share that is doing rather well today. So far, the Santos share price is up 0.3% at $8.36. But earlier in today's session, this oil share hit a high of $8.40. That's a new 52-week high for Santos, putting its 2022 performance at an impressive 26.4%. Santos shares are now up a pleasing 168% over the past five years.
But Santos isn't the only oil driller that's shot the moon today. Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) shares are also powering higher. Beach is currently trading at $1.80 a share, up a healthy 1.4% so far today. But earlier in this Friday's session, Beach shares climbed as high as $1.82 each. This, as you might guess, is a new high watermark for Beach shares. This energy company is now up 37.4% in 2022 so far, as well as more than 205% over the past five years.
But it's not just oil stocks that are spending some time in the sun. Another ASX 200 energy share rocketing today is Whitehaven Coal Ltd (ASX: WHC). Whitehaven shares have shot 2.77% higher today so far and are now trading at $5.38 each. Earlier, we saw Whitehaven climb as high as $5.41, which is the company's new 52-week high. Whitehaven has been an especially lucrative ASX 200 share to own in recent times. It's now up more than 95% in 2022 alone, and up more than 200% over the past 12 months.
Rising energy prices lift oil and coal shares
So why are all these ASX 200 energy shares hitting new 52-week highs today? Well, as my Fool colleague covered this morning, oil prices pushed decisively higher overnight. WTI crude oil prices were up 2.1% to US$117.67 a barrel, while the Brent crude oil price rose 1.75% to US$118.36 a barrel.
This is obviously good news for the companies that extract and sell oil and energy. Thus, we can probably say that this is the primary reason why we are seeing ASX 200 energy shares rise so decisively today.
