Never before has a president been sworn into the White House promising such a rapid expansion of oil and gas drilling in the United States as Donald Trump.
But nearly a year after Trump ordered his administration to drill for the country’s vast oil reserves — or as he called it, “the liquid gold under our feet” — analysts say fossil fuel production is not much higher than the record levels that existed during the Biden administration.
The price of a barrel of oil has fallen from about $75 when Trump took office to less than $60. The tariffs he imposed increased the cost of steel and other commodities that oil companies needed for wells and other equipment. Oil production has increased, but this is largely due to improved efficiency, and has not translated into more jobs in the industry or the broader economy.
Pump prices fell briefly earlier this year, but nowhere near half as Trump repeatedly promised during the campaign. The administration took other steps, such as ordering expensive coal-fired power plants to remain open, revoking permits for offshore wind projects and encouraging natural gas exports abroad, which together may have helped raise electricity and natural gas prices for American consumers.
Kenneth B. said: “The drill-baby-drill agenda has not been achieved,” said Medlock, an energy economics expert at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University in Houston.
However, the uncertain investment climate in fossil fuels comes as the industry’s political influence rises this year.
A New York Times analysis of investor disclosures and public filings shows that the sweeping domestic policy bill Trump recently signed into law already generates nearly $6 billion in tax breaks this year for the nation’s largest oil and gas companies.
Meanwhile, Trump is working to roll back dozens of environmental regulations that have increased costs for fossil fuel companies. It has opened environmentally sensitive lands in Alaska for drilling, including the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and is about to make offshore ocean waters available for new drilling as well.
The Trump administration last week asked a federal court to overturn restrictions on soot emitted by power plants and industrial facilities, and said Tuesday it would delay for three years a requirement that coal-fired plants clean up toxic coal waste.
The president reached agreements obligating European and Asian countries to purchase American liquefied natural gas for years to come. It hurt wind, solar and electric vehicle projects that were reducing oil’s market share. His administration has prevented other countries from imposing climate rules that could raise costs for American oil and gas companies.
During the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30), as countries gathered in Bethlehem to address climate change, Trump hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. The oil-rich country has worked closely with the Trump administration to thwart international climate agreements – even as Saudi Arabia has an ambitious plan to diversify its economy away from oil by 2030.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers credited Trump’s agenda with lowering gasoline prices and improving energy security. Nationally, the average price of gasoline was $3,069 a gallon on Monday, compared to $3,056 a year ago.
“There is no disputing the fact that President Trump’s energy dominance agenda is the reason Americans are paying less at the gas station,” Taylor said in a statement. She blamed states run by Democrats who want to increase their renewable energy, especially California, for pushing up average gasoline prices across the country.
Trump’s critics say his policies have raised prices and eliminated clean energy jobs while endangering the nation’s air and water.
Household electricity bills have risen 11% nationally since Trump took office, and more than 158,000 clean energy jobs in wind, solar and other clean energy manufacturing have been lost or halted since the administration eliminated subsidies under Biden, according to the nonprofit Climate Power.