Biden Administration Focused on Increased U.S. Oil & Gas Production
March 30, 2022
Ever since the transition from the Trump Administration to the Biden Administration, rank-and-file leaders of the US O&G industry have been outspoken in expressing frustration with the Biden Administration declaring it as being “anti” fossil fuel. Sometimes, actual anecdotal examples surface some of which hold water. More often, the criticisms border on irrational hysteria with no concrete complaints. Many seem to forget that The Great Shale Revolution flourished under the aegis of the Obama Administration. In fact, Biden has done very little to impede[1] upward activity of the oil & gas industry. If impedances include tight restrictions on methane emissions, then – as long as those regulations are sensible – that would be a good thing.
Today, in the heat of a new Cold War, the criticisms leveled at the Biden Administration are crumbling as it laser-focuses on combatting the Russian menace. Level-headed advisors have finally gotten Biden’s ear and successfully pointed out that the U.S. has ascended into a global powerhouse as a producer of oil & gas. And, the Administration realizes that it has the capability to upgrade U.S. capacity, and thereby offset ultra-sensitive dependencies on Russian-supplied oil that exists in select European countries (e.g., Italy and Germany). Respected energy prognosticator, Daniel Yergen, weighed in with an excellent opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal (before the Ukraine war broke out) – click here to read. Yergen points out that the U.S. has shifted the power dynamic away from OPEC (e.g., Iran and Saudi Arabia) and even Russia by being able to supply LNG in vast quantities to Northern Europe.
Let’s hope the pronouncements coming from the Biden Administration (e.g., Secretary of Interior Granholm) are not undercut by frivolous regulations that slow down the progression of a strategic ramp-up in US O&G production. What’s an example of “frivolous”, you say? How about silly attempts to prohibit cooking stoves using natural gas? Another example that might be truly important? That would be the federal judge instructing the federal government to take into account the carbon footprint associated with oil & gas produced from a federal lease. Do you know what that means? It means that the U.S. has decided that it will buy oil from foreign sources that aren’t dumb enough to self-impose UNILATERALLY a carbon penalty on its own production. The rational solution would be to apply a carbon tax across all oil consumed in the United States regardless of where it comes from. Why shackle U.S. producers?
First Keystone is taking steps right now to aid the increase in U.S.-based O&G production by accelerating our construction program to make available for lease a 5,000 s.f. office/warehouse located in Pecos.
The opinions expressed above reflect only those of the author and do not represent those of the First Keystone Pecos Industrial Park organization. First Keystone welcomes responsible fact-based discourses on these topics.
[1] It is a fact that the number of leases offered by the Biden Administration are comparable to those offered by the Trump Administration under comparable time periods.