Energy stocks made modest gains this year with the S&P ASX200 Energy index rising 13.8 per cent over the past year to 11,546.1 points.

It has been a mixed year for oil with the ongoing dispute between the US and China keeping oil prices in check with the benchmark Brent Crude rising about 4.5 per cent to $US64.20 ($92.71) per barrel.

Meanwhile, Australian gas prices on the east coast have slumped in recent months due to the glut of LNG available on global markets.

Australia also remains the largest coal exporter in the world thanks to continuing demand from India.

So who are some of the movers among ASX energy stocks this year?

 

ASX Small Cap Energy Winners

1. Warrego Energy (ASX:WGO) +300%, 5. Strike Energy (ASX:STX) +122%

If you had a well that flowed gas at rates competitive with some of the best in the country, how well do you think your shares would perform on the market?

Well if you are Warrego, the answer is very well indeed, with shares rising 300 per cent since the beginning of this year.

And it is not hard to see why.

The company’s West Erregulla-2 well, which it shares equally with Strike Energy, has been a stunning success for both companies.

After capturing the imaginations of investors when the partners announced the thickness of the target sandstones in August, Warrego and Strike proceeded to flow gas at a rate of 69 million cubic feet per day during testing.

To give some context, this outperformed test results from all the initial wells at the nearby producing Waitsia gas field, save for the Waitsia-3 appraisal well.

2. Whitebark Energy (ASX:WBE) +225%

This Canada-focused company has been on a tear in the latter half of this year after drilling the Rex-2 well at its Wizard Lake project.

Rex-2 was subsequently brought into production at a rate of 865 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day, substantially higher than the 340boe per day from the Rex-1 well.

Given the large disparity, the company’s investigations and subsequent workover of the earlier well revealed that debris had blocked off two thirds of the horizontal section at Rex-1.

Rex-1 remains shut-in while the company upgrades its surface facilities to accommodate production from both the two earlier wells and the Rex-3 well that is only now starting to flow back frac fluids prior to testing.

3. Winchester Energy (ASX:WEL) +206%

There might be a little coincidence here, but the third gainer on our chart also has a name that starts with the letter W.

Nonetheless, Winchester Energy has earned its place with the company growing oil production at its Permian Basin assets in Texas. Production in the September 2019 quarter averaged 223 barrels of oil per day, up 68 per cent from the previous quarter.

And there is more coming with new wells being brought online at its Mustang field and the first well at its Lightning prospect being put into production after work indicated that it had intersected 340 feet of gross oil pay.

4. Empire Energy Group (ASX:EEG) +197%

Shares in Empire Energy shot up in October after the company kicked off a seismic survey in the Northern Territory that is aimed at optimising the selection of surface drilling locations for its 2020 exploration campaign.

This program targets the tight shales in the NT that are similar to the shales that have turned the US into a net oil exporter.

Here are the best performing ASX small cap oil and gas stocks.

Swipe or scroll to reveal full table. Click headings to sort:

Ticker Name Price 1 Jan 2019 Price 13 December (Intraday) Total Gains
WGO WARREGO ENERGY LTD 0.050 0.210 300
WBE WHITEBARK ENERGY LTD 0.004 0.014 225
WEL WINCHESTER ENERGY LTD 0.018 0.058 206
EEG EMPIRE ENERGY GROUP LTD 0.150 0.440 197
STX STRIKE ENERGY LTD 0.079 0.180 122
CUE CUE ENERGY RESOURCES LTD 0.062 0.125 102
NWE NORWEST ENERGY NL 0.002 0.004 100
INK INDAGO ENERGY LTD 0.040 0.078 95
ANA ANSILA ENERGY NL 0.021 0.040 91
TAP TAP OIL LTD 0.088 0.140 88
PKO PEAKO LTD 0.014 0.024 67
AUH AUSTCHINA HOLDINGS LTD 0.003 0.005 67
DEV DEVEX RESOURCES LTD 0.046 0.074 61
CEL CHALLENGER EXPLORATION LTD 0.055 0.088 60
TMK TAMASKA OIL & GAS LTD 0.004 0.006 50
ROG RED SKY ENERGY LTD 0.002 0.003 50
IKW IKWEZI MINING LTD 0.002 0.003 50
ADD ADAVALE RESOURCES LTD 0.011 0.016 45
CRM CARBON MINERALS LTD 0.125 0.180 44
SGC SACGASCO LTD 0.025 0.036 44
FPL FREMONT PETROLEUM CORP LTD 0.005 0.007 40
MEU MARMOTA LTD 0.016 0.023 37
COE COOPER ENERGY LTD 0.445 0.595 36
HE8 HELIOS ENERGY LTD 0.140 0.190 36
KAR KAROON ENERGY LTD 0.777 1.065 35
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At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Warrego Energy is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.

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