Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares are outpacing the wider market today.

Having closed in the red for the past four trading days, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy stock are up 1.1% at the time of writing on Thursday, changing hands for $23.94 apiece.

That’s well ahead of the 0.4% gains posted by the ASX 200 at this same time. And it also outpaces the 0.7% gains on the S&P/ASX 200 Energy Index (ASX: XEJ).

So, what’s lifting Woodside shares?

Woodside shares marching higher

Well, we can rule out any big uptick in global oil prices.

Brent crude oil is trading for US$72.22 per barrel, which is right about where the oil price stood yesterday. That’s down from recent highs of US$80.93 per…