In his first public speech since leaving office in January, former President Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden’s energy policies and said they would bring an “energy disaster” to America.
The pro-oil former president touted throughout his term in office America’s energy independence, supported the oil industry, and issued a Presidential Permit to the U.S.-Canada Keystone XL oil pipeline. Trump also actively engaged with OPEC and the OPEC+ group to influence their decisions, including by tweets and phone calls to the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Russia.
President Biden, however, placed green energy as a priority for his Administration, rescinded the Presidential Permit for Keystone XL on his first day in office, and paused all oil and gas permitting on federal lands and waters, and canceled lease sales.
During his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida on Sunday, Trump said:
“The Biden policies are a massive win for other oil producing countries and a massive loss for the United States and our great citizens.”
Trump also criticized President Biden’s move to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.
The U.S. became the world’s top crude oil producer, Trump said, (and America still is the world’s top oil producer).
“Bigger than Saudi Arabia, bigger than Russia by a lot. We left them all in the dust. They were all in the dust. But if the Democrats have their way, we are heading from energy dominance to energy disaster,” Trump said.
“We will now be relying on Russia and the Middle East for oil,” he added.
“He wants to put you all out of business. He’s not okay with energy. He wants windmills, the windmills. The windmills that don’t work when you need them,” said Trump, adding that “Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history.”
“So enjoy that when you go to the pump and they’ll say that’d be about $200 to fill up your van,” Trump said.
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By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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While President Biden has greener goals for US energy, he will, nevertheless, ensure that no one will undermine the US shale oil industry on his watch for two reasons. The first is its importance to the United States economically and geopolitically. The second reason is that any reduction in US oil production will translate into higher crude oil imports from the current 9 million barrels a day (mbd) to 12-13 mbd by next year and the year after and this will deepen US budget deficit.
However, he will increase regulation of the sector by tightening the laws limiting methane emissions which Trump loosened for the benefit of the shale oil industry and fracking on federal land. Moreover, a Biden administration would likely see natural gas as an important bridge to cleaner fuels and a reduction in coal usage and also an important export.
Former President Trump’s views on oil and energy are self-delusional verging on ignorance. He encouraged US shale oil drillers to produce recklessly in order to undermine OPEC+ efforts to prop oil prices and also gain market share at its expense. But that approach has resulted in increasing numbers of bankruptcies, mounting debts estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars and a loss of investors’ confidence culminating in a virtual collapse during the pandemic.
Trump also encouraged shale oil drillers to put geopolitics ahead of economics. He urged them to adopt empty slogans of his discredited “America First Policy” such as ‘achieving US energy dominance’, ‘making America oil self-sufficient’ and ‘claiming America the world’s largest crude oil producer’ thus encouraging them to produce recklessly and in so doing destabilizing the global oil market and prices and accelerating the eventual demise of their industry.
As a result of the pandemic and Trump’s energy policies, the US shale oil industry has lost its importance to the global oil market. Moreover, OPEC+ achieved a spectacular victory over shale oil. The industry could hardly expect to stage a comeback soon.
The crucial situation facing the shale oil industry is that its fate is now in the hands of OPEC+. Were OPEC+ to go for a market share strategy, this will immediately and very adversely impact shale oil production.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Visiting Professor of Energy Economics at ESCP Europe Business School, London
The only bad news beyond all doubt vis a vis the Biden Administration is that he is openly against all of Canada for some strange reason. The Administration has quickly done a "volte face" vis a vis the House of Saud. Anyhow the current price for wti in the USA is non-normative due to the spectacular collapse of the entire electrical grid for the State of Texas...one of the largest and most in demand electrical grids on Earth. That makes for a very expensive system to both fix let alone upgrade would be an understatement.
Great news for Tesla and the City of Austin obviously and of course.
Long Kinder Morgan Energy ticker symbol KMI.
Strong buy.