President Trump is sharply changing the US energy policy in favor of fossil fuels, but oil and gas companies say that these changes will not push them to engage in the madness of the new drilling that Trump wants.
The oil industry is overwhelmed by the executive orders issued by Mr. Trump, which aims to make life more difficult for renewable energy companies and facilitate oil, gas and pipelines. But with regard to the decisive question about whether his policies will lead to more oil and gas production – one of the central goals of Mr. Trump – the industry executives say this will not happen unless prices rise much, which the president says will not support him.
Trump’s goal is to support oil and gas by reducing the rules that govern fuel extraction, transport and export with competition, including wind turbines, electric cars and other low -emissions technologies. This is a strong sign of the market, but it is not enough for companies to “dig, my little one, dig.”
“What you see is a great deal of positivity,” said Ron Josek, President of Liberty Energy, an oil field service company whose chief executive of the Ministry of Energy leadership has chosen. “But it is too early to say that this will be translated into a change in the actual activity levels here in North America.”
Executive officials say that in order for the pits and hydraulic fractures to recover significantly, the prices of oil and natural gas must rise, which is a result that contradicts the Trump goal of stopping inflation by reducing the cost of energy. Oil companies will not spend money on production, which is already approaching record levels in the United States, if they are not confident in their ability to make money from the additional fuel they produce.
What increases the complexity of the president’s efforts to increase local production is that the industry in general focuses more on spending under control than it was during its first term. The Wall Street companies used to invest in hydraulic cracking companies that have grown quickly. Now, investors want to support profitable operators.
An index for US oil and gas companies lost about 3 percent of its value last week, with oil prices declining below $ 75 a barrel. The index lost additional gains on Monday, as oil prices fell below $ 73 a barrel. Natural gas prices, which often rise in winter, have increased recently, as most of the country suffers from very cold weather.
However, there are early signs that the market responds to some of the statements and orders of Mr. Trump.
Ben Del, the administrative partner of Kimridge Energy Investment Company, said that potential customers have expressed greater interest in signing long -term deals for US gas exports since Trump’s election.
“People want to be early and at the forefront of subscribing to American products to try to avoid potential threats to customs tariffs,” said Del, whose company has a majority share at the Commonwealth of LNG, which is awaiting federal approval for the proposed gas project. Export factory on the Gulf coast.
Mr. Trump’s announcement of a national energy emergency – is associated with other executive orders – amounts to the level of promise Test the boundaries of the presidential authority To ensure that the demand for fossil fuels remains strong. It is a sharp coup from the agenda of his predecessor, which was aimed at removing the nation from the fuel responsible mainly from climate change.
On his first day in office, Mr. Trump The Ministry of Energy instructed The resumption of allowing gas export facilities, a process that President Joseph Biden temporarily suspended, although a federal judge issued a decision later. The administration ordered the lifting of this suspension. The president also threatened to do so Imposing customs definitions on a wide range of commercial partnersIncluding Canada and Mexico, two documents of the United States. (Depending on how it is crystallized, such drawings can be very devastating for the oil and gas industry, which is a very global industry that depends on materials and imported fuel).
The results of the pro -fossil fuel agenda will become clear for months and years. The past decade was a reminder that presidents could not do much to support or thwart the various energy sources.
The oil and gas production in the United States increased to record levels during the Biden era, even when it sought to push the country towards cleaner alternatives. Mr. Trump’s efforts to Support “clean and beautiful coal” During his first term, there was no comparable of cheap natural gas, which eventually overcame coal in the market. Federal data shows that coal consumption in the United States decreased by more than a third during the first period of Trump.
Trump’s executive orders last week put a road map to make oil and gas production easier and less expensive – and more difficult and more expensive to build equipment that would help people reduce their use of fossil fuel.
He ordered federal agencies to stop issuing lease contracts and permits for all new wind projects pending a new environmental review. the Then the Ministry of Interior freezed the matter for 60 days Regarding licensing new solar power panels and other renewable energy projects on public lands.
In another executive order, Trump identified the energy to include oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, ground thermal energy and hydroelectric energy – except for wind turbines and solar panels. It is also He said to the agencies To stop the distribution of funds allocated by Congress to products such as installing fast charging stations along highways. Legal experts said that the presidents The authorized spending cannot be stopped by Congress.
But some green energy investors have already begun to withdraw. After Mr. Trump’s victory in the November elections, the German company RWE, Declare She would reduce spending on the development of marine wind energy in the United States, saying that the risks that threaten new projects there have increased.
In the field of oil and gas, companies in particular encouraged Trump’s pledge to facilitate the construction of pipelines, although doing so is likely to take years because Congress will need to pass new legislation and it is likely that opponents will seek to obstruct projects by challenging them. In court.
Today, it is especially difficult to build pipelines that cross the state’s borders. Companies they have Everyone has abandoned building pipelines in the northeast After previous projects faced major lawsuits, as well as opposition to government and local officials.
As a result, companies can only transport a limited amount of natural gas out of Abtacia, which is one of the most productive gas areas in the country, which limits production in states such as Pennsylvania and reduces prices locally. And several hundred miles away, in places like Boston, the gas is much more expensive in general.
“What we will focus on is the long -term permanent reform that allows us to build things here in the United States in a responsible manner,” said Alan Armstrong, CEO of Williams, one of the leading car company. The largest operator of natural gas pipelines in the country.
Brad Bloomer It contributed to the reports.
