President Donald J. Trump . (Official White House Photo by D. Myles Cullen)

Trump Uses Houston Summit to Loosen the Reigns on Oil and Gas

On Wednesday, Donald Trump visited Houston, Texas, the nation’s energy capital, to continue the fight for American energy dominance. 

On a hard-charging tour of the Lone Star State, the President took the time to speak to a room filled with oil and gas professionals. In his speech, Trump reasserted his commitment to the nation’s oil and gas industry, praising their past success while paving the way for future prosperity.

Building the Infrastructure of Tomorrow

While signing the pair of executive orders, Donald Trump spoke to an enthusiastic crowd about his administrations intentions.

“My action today will cut through destructive permitting delays and denials,” explained the President, “so that you can get to work producing the energy and the infrastructure our country needs to thrive and compete and to win. All over the world, we’re winning. Our country is respected again.”

In more practical terms, Trump’s latest executive orders will set about a robust program of infrastructure-building that will focus on erecting new pipelines. In the executive order itself, Trump wrote

“To fully realize [its] economic potential … the United States needs infrastructure capable of safely and efficiently transporting these plentiful resources to end users.  Without it, energy costs will rise and the national energy market will be stifled; job growth will be hampered; and the manufacturing and geopolitical advantages of the United States will erode.”

The Ongoing Battle

Donald Trump’s latest gesture is a step in the right direction for the United States’ embattled oil and gas industry. Even as the President takes strides to relieve the regulatory and legal pressure placed on the shoulders of the country’s oil producers, forces are at work to undo Trump’s work.

At the tail end of March, US District Judge Sharon Gleason determined that Trump’s attempt to revoke a ban on drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans wasn’t legal.

In spite of the President’s repeated attempts to turn the tide for American oil and gas, it seems like the nation is destined to keep taking one step forward and one step back until everyone can get on the same page.