Woodside Energy Group Ltd (ASX: WDS) shares have been on fire in 2026.

In early afternoon trade today, shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) energy stock are down 0.2%, trading for $31.66 apiece.

Despite that minor dip, Woodside shares remain up a whopping 34.2% since the closing bell sounded on 31 December.

For some context, the ASX 200 is down 1.5% year to date.

Taking a step back, shares in the ASX 200 oil and gas stock are up 38.8% since this time last year.

And that doesn’t include the $1.653 in fully-franked dividends the company paid (or shortly will pay) eligible stockholders over the year. At the current share price, this sees Woodside trading on a fully-franked trailing dividend yield of 5.2%.

But passive income…