By AFP - Agence France Presse
Energy sector rallies after Trump rips up US green agenda
John BIERS
Leading figures from the energy sector gather in Houston this week for the biggest meeting since Donald Trump returned to the White House to defend fossil fuels and undo Joe Biden's climate legacy.
The president himself will not be attending the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) annual conference, but Trump's appointees are expected to talk about the Republican's oil-led program, as embodied by the slogan: “Drill Baby Drill”.
Since returning to Washington less than two months ago, Trump and his team have laid siege to the existing economic order at a dizzying pace, launching trade wars against allies and neutralizing government agencies that the president and his libertarian allies don't like.
Trump made energy the centerpiece of his agenda with the “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, promising during his inauguration speech to “end the Green New Deal” in favor of “liquid gold under our feet.”
Trump's January 20 executive order represents a potentially broad attack on the tax incentives adopted by energy companies to advance billions of dollars in energy transition projects linked to laws enacted during Biden's presidency to mitigate climate change.
Some experts believe that Trump will not go so far as to cancel existing projects where workers have been hired, including many in Republican regions.
But the abrupt shift from climate-focused Biden to Trump will likely “turn 2025 into a paralyzed year where people will be hesitant to promote any kind of decarbonization,” said Dan Pickering of Pickering Energy Partners, a Houston investment and advisory firm.
The schedule for CERA's five-day meeting in Houston lists three of Trump's top appointees, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright, who will open the proceedings on Monday morning.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Environmental Protection Agency Director Lee Zeldin are expected to speak later in the week.
Wright, an entrepreneur and energy executive, and Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, appeared together last week to tout Venture Global's announcement of an $18 billion expansion of a liquefied natural gas export facility in Louisiana.
The event highlighted Trump's reversal of a Biden freeze on permitting new LNG export capacity.
Trump ridiculed the environmental concerns at the heart of Biden's policy, defending LNG exports as a way to strengthen US ties with energy-importing countries, as well as a way to boost the US exploration and production sector.
However, there has been widespread skepticism about Trump's message, which calls for the industry to significantly increase oil and gas drilling to boost production and reduce energy prices. Wall Street has signaled a clear preference for robust profits from the sector that can continue to allow for dividends and share buybacks.
In addition to Trump's officials, other speakers include CEOs from Chevron, Shell, Saudi Aramco, and other oil giants; senior government officials from energy importers, such as India, and exporters, such as Libya; and senior executives from the energy and technology sector.
There are panels on low-carbon technologies, the challenge of electricity supply to support artificial intelligence research, OPEC's influence in setting oil prices, and geopolitical changes around energy and international trade.
European officials will take part in panels focusing on Europe at a crossroads after turning away from Russian supplies and the role of energy in the future of the continent's security.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, US LNG “played a super-important role” for Europe as the continent sought to lessen its dependence on Russian gas, said Jonathan Elkind, a fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.
But European leaders have been forced to assess the current state of the transatlantic alliance in light of Trump's alignment with Russian President Vladimir Putin and tensions with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky.
Whether a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine can lead to the restoration of some Russian natural gas exports to Europe remains an open question.
In the short term, including at CERA, Elkind expects European officials to continue to speak optimistically about the prospects for more LNG from the US.
But “in the back of their minds... it's very difficult to say whether Donald Trump is friend or foe and that's a shocking thing to say after 70 years of a close alliance,” said Elkind.
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