Trump meets with oil execs as U.S. scales down environmental rules
(Bloomberg) – The chief executives of more than a dozen oil companies will deliver a message of gratitude — as well as caution — when they meet with President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Industry leaders say they have plenty of reasons to give thanks. Trump is an unabashed champion of U.S. oil and gas production who has vowed to unleash the industry’s potential. Two months into office, he’s already taken steps to begin unwinding policies that increased operational costs and reduced demand for fuel.
But for the at least 15 oil bosses set to visit Trump at the White House, there also are warning signs on that path to energy dominance. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has floated a $50-per-barrel target for crude that’s too low to sustain some U.S. production. The president has spent days enthusiastically praising oil price declines that came after he pushed OPEC+ to boost output and the cartel obliged.
Meanwhile, the president’s threatened tariffs are stoking industry concerns about potential economic declines even as the levies raise costs for the materials oil companies use to refine gasoline and drill wells.
The meeting is set to be the first of its kind since Trump’s second inauguration and his creation of a new National Energy Dominance Council to shape policy. Participants are set to span the industry’s full spectrum, including integrated oil companies (Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Shell Plc, BP PLC, ConocoPhillips, Hess Corp.); independent producers (Diamondback Energy Inc., APA Corp’s Apache, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Continental Resources Inc.); refiners (Marathon Petroleum Corp. and Phillips 66); a pipeline operator (Enbridge Inc.) and an oil field service firm (Baker Hughes Co.).
The president and administration officials are likely to discuss the role energy plays in helping fuel American innovation, as the U.S. seeks to win a global race to dominate the power-hungry artificial intelligence industry, a senior White House official said.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the head of Trump’s energy dominance council, and Wright, the energy secretary who is the panel’s vice chair, also are expected to attend.
