Commodity prices across the board have surged in recent months, and energy commodities are no exception. Crude oil, thermal coal and liquified natural gas (LNG) have pushed higher, but ASX energy shares seem to be lagging behind. 

Energy commodities bouncing back

Brent crude oil has staged a significant recovery to the US$52 per barrel level. This compares to being range bound around the US$40 mark since June 2020.

Thermal coal prices have increased over 50% during the December 2020 quarter, brought on by China ramping up imports on non-Australian thermal coal. 

LNG prices have also surged to a six-year high of around US$15 per million British thermal units (MMbtu), from US$2/MMbtu in mid-2020. 

A number of supply-demand, weather and political forces continue to work in favour of sturdy energy prices. Since March 2020, key energy producers including OPEC+ and Glencore have focused on managing supply and curbing greenfield and expansion projects.

More recently, a number of regional economies have also emerged from COVID-19-related lockdowns, which could help demand-side fundamentals.

Bell Potter upgrades ASX energy shares 

Bell Potter reiterated buy recommendations for a series of ASX energy shares on 7 January 2021.

Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) had a share price target of $2.29, or an 19% upside to its closing price on Friday of $1.92.

The Cooper Energy Ltd (ASX: COE) share price target was 47 cents. This represents an upside of 17.5% compared to its closing price last week of 40 cents. 

Finally, Senex Energy Ltd (ASX: SXY) also received a buy recommendation with a price target of 40 cents. The Senex share price closed at 33 cents last week. 

These companies received buy recommendations on the basis that they each had uncontracted medium- to long-term production and are positioned to expand their existing assets to meet increased demand.

Other preferred ASX energy shares that received speculative buy ratings from Bell Potter included Byron Energy Ltd (ASX: BYE) with a price target of 42 cents, Comet Ridge Ltd (ASX: COI) with a 17 cent price target and Blue Energy Limited (ASX: BLU) with a 17 cent price target as well. These companies are far more speculative in nature, with market capitalisations of less than $200 million. 

The post Broker thinks these 6 ASX energy shares could go higher appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Byron Energy Ltd (ASX: BYE) share price plummeted 8.82% to 15.5 cents today before recovering to 16 cents at the time of writing. This came after the company announced that it had evacuated 2 assets in the gulf of Mexico.

What was in the announcement?

Byron Energy said it had evacuated production operators from its assets at South Marsh Island 58 and South Marsh Island 71 due to adverse weather conditions caused by hurricane Zeta. 

At the company's South Marsh Island 58 asset, tying of the G2 well into production equipment is almost complete. Production from the well can begin after the tie-in is completed, the company said. However, production has been delayed due to hurricane Zeta and is now expected to resume next week after 2 November 2020. Byron has a 100% working interest in the well and an 83.33% revenue interest.

Production from the Byron Energy operated South Marshal Island 71 F platform was shut down on 25 October 2020 due to pipeline shut ins associated with hurricane Zeta. Byron Energy holds a 50% working interest in the platform and 40.625% net revenue interest in the block. Otto Energy Ltd (ASX: OEL) holds a working interest and net revenue interest in the asset equivalent to Byron Energy.

According to the Byron Energy, production at South Marshall Island 58 and South Marshal Island 71 will continue as soon as conditions are safe.

About the Byron Energy share price

Byron Energy is an oil and gas explorer with assets in the gulf of Mexico. The company has been listed on the ASX since 2005.

In the year to 30 June 2020, Byron Energy had revenue from the sale of oil and gas of US$24.37 million, down from US$38.57 million in the year to 30 June 2019. Byron Energy posted a loss of US$70,396 in FY2020, this followed a profit of US$5.74 million in the 2019 financial year.

At 30 June 2020, Byron Energy had proven reserves (1P) of 8.1 million barrels of oil and 58.5 billion cubic feet of gas. The company had proven and probable reserves (2P) of 17.5 million barrels of oil and 105.3 billion cubic feet of gas at 30 June 2020.

The Byron Energy share price is up 60% since its 52-week low of 10 cents, however, it is down 46.67% since the beginning of the year. The Byron Energy share price is down 46.67% since this time last year.

The post Byron Energy (ASX:BYE) rigs evacuated as hurricane Zeta approaches appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In afternoon trade the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is on course to start the week with a sizeable decline. The benchmark index is currently down 0.55% to 5,831.5 points.

Four shares that are falling more than most today are listed below. Here's why they are sinking lower:

The Byron Energy Ltd (ASX: BYE) share price has crashed 33% lower to 19 cents. This morning the oil and gas exploration company released drilling results from its SM58 G2 well. According to the release, the well has been drilled to a final total depth of 11,237 feet measured depth and has been deemed non-commercial. Management remains optimistic there will be other opportunities close by.

The Clover Corporation Limited (ASX: CLV) share price is down 5% to $2.14. This appears to have been driven by a broker note out of UBS this morning. Its analysts have retained their neutral rating and cut the price target on the specialist ingredients company's shares to $2.30 following its FY 2020 results. It notes that FY 2021 is going to be a challenging year for Clover, with demand largely flat year to date.

The DEXUS Property Group (ASX: DXS) share price has fallen 3.5% to $8.72. Investors have been selling the property company's shares after analysts at Morgan Stanley downgraded them to an underweight rating from overweight. The broker has also slashed its price target from $10.20 down to $8.15. Morgan Stanley has concerns over the Australian office market and expects DEXUS to struggle with its occupancy.

The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price is down 1.5% to $3.85. This also appears to have been driven by a broker note out of Morgan Stanley. This morning its analysts retained their underweight rating and cut the price target on the online travel company's shares to $3.00. It is expecting another large loss from Webjet in FY 2021 before it returns to profit in FY 2022.

The post Why Byron Energy, Clover, DEXUS, & Webjet shares are sinking lower today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

The Byron Energy Ltd (ASX: BYE) share price has today soared higher following a strong operations update published by the company. The Byron share price was up 10.3% to 21.5 cents in intraday trading before edging back to its current price of 21 cents, at the time of writing.

What Byron Energy does

Byron's business was established in 2005 and is focused solely on the outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. The company participates in the identification, analysis and leasing of suitable oil and gas prospects. The Byron team boasts extensive geological, geophysical and operational expertise in developing and operating properties in that region.

To this tune, Byron has a portfolio of operated and 100% working interest properties in the Gulf of Mexico, many of which are oil prone.

Operations update

The Byron share price has today been buoyed by positive drilling and pipeline activities. The company announced that it has completed operations on the Upper Sand in the SM58 G1 well. This is positive progress for the company as it aims to get the G1 well into production by 1 September. The well will be placed into production after all pipelines are operational and are tied into the production facility.

Also in the SM58 region, it was announced that the G2 well has begun drilling. The drilling is set to occur over a section where strong mudlog oil and gas amounts were observed.

As mentioned above, in order to get the operation underway, pipeline installation and topside work is necessary. Operations to lay all necessary oil and gas pipelines are now complete and the lines are currently being buried beneath the seafloor. However, the next phase of the project will entail making the pipeline connections to the platform risers. This is expected to be completed later this week.

CEO, Maynard V. Smith had this to say regarding the SM58 project:

"Our team implemented a very complex tie back and completion program in the G1 well with no operational issues. The fact we accomplished this task ahead of schedule and under budget is a direct result of exceptional upfront planning and excellent offshore execution."

Foolish takeaway

The Byron share price has been a casualty of falling oil prices. This has seen the company's share price fall to a low of 10.5 cents during the pandemic. However, the recent rebound in oil prices has been driving the Byron share price higher, with experts stating the upturn isn't over yet.

Company shareholders will be hoping that this, along with strong management, can elevate the Byron share price to its former highs. However, despite the recent good news, this is still a long way off as the Byron share price sits at 21 cents – well below its 52-week high of 39 cents.

The post Byron share price erupts 10% on operations update appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.