The near doubling in the price of crude has helped make shares of oil and gas companies - for years a losing bet - one of the best performing areas of the market, with outsized gains in the stocks of companies such as oil major Exxon Mobil Corp and Diamondback Energy Inc, which have surged 89% and 231%, respectively, since early November.
With a gain of over 80% in that time, the S&P 500 energy sector is back to levels last seen in February 2020, when the stock market began its plunge as the COVID-19 outbreak took its toll on the economy.