
President Donald Trump opened his term with a flurry of executive orders, many reversing the Biden administration’s policies on LNG permitting, the Paris Agreement and drilling in Alaska. (Source: Anna Moneymaker/Shutterstock.com)
President Donald Trump began his administration with an artillery barrage of executive orders in support of the oil and gas industry, including a declaration of a “national energy emergency.”
The signal from the White House is that Trump, who openly communicated with energy executives such as Continental Resources’ Harold Hamm during his campaign, plans to dramatically and quickly reform the federal government’s energy policies.
“I think (the energy emergency declaration) just sets a tone,” Jack Belcher, principal at Cornerstone Government Affairs, told Hart Energy in an interview. “It enables the administration to move in a more aggressive fashion.”
The tone was brisk: Trump fired off a lineup of executive orders covering LNG permitting, the Paris Agreement climate accords, drilling in Alaska and offshore and refilling the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Millions of barrels of oil were sold from the SPR under the Biden administration.
Trump held off on his threat to implement tariffs on many countries, including Canada, on his first day in office. The potential move had worried several midstream companies and a refining sector that is dependent on cheap oil shipped into the U.S. from its northern border.
“This is a new day for American energy, and we applaud President Trump for moving swiftly to chart a new path where U.S. oil and natural gas are embraced, not restricted,” said American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers in a statement released after the executive orders were signed.
In his first term, Trump signed only one executive order on his first day. Nearing midnight on the first day of his second term, he had already signed 26. Seven of the orders either directly or indirectly affected the energy sector.
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National energy emergency
Trump’s order declaring the nation’s energy supply is in an emergency status is meant to enable his administration to bypass over-cumbersome laws and regulations that hinder the rapid development of energy sources.
“To facilitate the Nation’s energy supply, agencies shall identify and use all relevant lawful emergency and other authorities available to them to expedite the completion of all authorized and appropriated infrastructure, energy, environmental, and natural resources projects that are within the identified authority of each of the Secretaries to perform or to advance,” the executive order said.
Just how far the administration can legally run under such a declaration remains to be seen, according to a statement from Arbo, an analytical firm that tracks government energy policy, sent to Hart Energy.
“It is an open question whether the current status of domestic energy production, transportation, refining and generation constitutes an emergency that would justify invoking additional powers, and what specific powers such a declaration would activate,” Arbo said.
The scope of the declaration is likely to be tested in court, both by groups inside the executive branch and opponents outside of it. However, by declaring an emergency over the regulatory and legal difficulties that plague energy infrastructure projects, the administration is sending a message to the industry that it plans to prioritize reform.
“From an energy infrastructure perspective, the industry should be encouraged that the EO [executive order] talks about building interstate pipelines in places that have big needs but have been non-starters, such as New England,” Arbo said.
LNG permitting
In Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, Trump revoked an executive order signed by former President Joe Biden that includes a ban on new permits for LNG projects.
The new Trump administration also redefined the “public interest” qualifications of LNG projects. Under the Biden administration, public interest was determined to encapsulate ideas such as “environmental justice” and the effect of a project on climate change.
“In assessing the “Public Interest” to be advanced by any particular application, the Secretary of Energy shall consider the economic and employment impacts to the United States and the impact to the security of allies and partners that would result from granting the application,” Trump’s new executive order said.
Arbo wrote that the public interest clause is key to reversing the Biden administration policy.
“Economic and security interests are in fashion and climate and environmental justice are out of fashion,” a spokeswoman for the company wrote. “Procedurally, the EO gives (the Department of Energy) the latitude to work within the established process and receive and review public comments, which is currently underway.”
However, the change in policy is unlikely to result in new permits awarded by the end of the week. Analysts said it would take months for the revamped process to finally move forward with new permits.
The U.S. shipped 88.3 million tons of LNG in 2024 and leads the globe in production. Two new LNG plants began production in 2024, and U.S. capacity should grow by about 50 million tons per annum (mtpa) in 2025.
Eight U.S. LNG projects, capable of adding another 100 mtpa, were affected by the Biden administration’s pause.
Environmental groups immediately criticized the move.
“Donald Trump is completely ignoring the stark reality of what it means to ship America’s energy overseas. Domestic energy prices will go up, the local fishing industry along the Gulf Coast will be decimated, our air and water will be polluted and our health threatened,” the Sierra Club said in a statement.
North to Alaska
Another Trump executive order “unleashing” energy was aimed specifically at Alaska. Some pundits referred to the document as the “drill, baby, drill” order, referring to the energy policy slogan dating back to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s campaign for vice president in 2008.
The singling out of Alaska made sense, Belcher said: When it comes to energy policy, the state “is like a different country.”
The Trump administration said the goal of the order was to end “the assault on Alaska’s sovereignty and its ability to responsibly develop these resources for the benefit of the nation.”
The order rescinded the Biden administration’s efforts to block oil drilling in the far north and along the Alaskan coasts. Trump also repealed a Biden memo that put 16 million acres in Alaska off-limits to oil production. The acres are on the state’s southeastern coast, east of Anchorage.
Goodbye Paris, again
America’s on-again, off-again relationship with the Paris Agreement continues.
Trump signed an executive order and also sent a signed letter to the United Nations indicating his intention to withdraw from the 2015 agreement. The policy requires nations to provide targets to cut emissions of their greenhouse gases from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.
The U.S. joined the agreement after former President Barack Obama signed an executive order in 2016. Trump removed the U.S. from the agreement in his first term; the Biden administration later put the country back in.
The agreement has been one of the guiding principles behind the federal government’s boosting of solar and wind energy.
Passing on EVs
Another section of Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” order dealt with regulations favoring the development of electric vehicles (EV) as an eventual replacement for gas-powered cars and trucks.
“The unlawful regulatory mandate on companies to effectively eliminate many or most gas-powered vehicles has resulted in artificial price increases on those popular vehicles to subsidize electric vehicles disfavored by consumers,” the White House said in a statement.
As a result, the administration canceled distribution of $5 billion in government funds for vehicle charging stations and called for ending a waiver for states to adopt zero-emission vehicle rules by 2035. Trump also said EV tax credits need to be reconsidered.
Other promises, tariffs and threats
Trump also said he planned on refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, though he didn’t issue an executive order on the matter. The Biden administration used the reserve as a buffer against high gas prices following the pandemic in 2020. The reserve has been at its lowest level in 40 years, and the Biden White House hesitated to refill the reserve at a time of high crude prices.
For now, the Trump administration also chose not to implement a wide-ranging tariff that would have added either a 10% or even 25% duty on imported goods, including crude, from Canada.
The move was met with relief, if caution, from some in the country’s midstream sector.
“Canada and the U.S. share a highly integrated energy system that supports economies and jobs on both sides of the border,” said Jesse Semko, strategist for media relations for Enbridge, Canada’s largest midstream company.
“The implementation of tariffs won’t change the need for an abundant supply of energy, which is needed to support these priorities. … What might change, however, is its cost dynamics—with potentially significant impacts for our customers and, ultimately, for U.S. consumers. At this point, it’s too early to know what those cost dynamics would look like.”
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