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The era of American energy abundance is at hand.
Power & Technology (1/19/26) reports: "As the anniversary of US President Donald Trump’s second inauguration draws closer, the domestic impact of his oil and gas strategy becomes ever clearer. Under his administration, the sector has been shaped by a glut of licences and a glaring absence of tariffs. On licensing, the Trump administration has implemented reforms to encourage exploration and drive oil and gas production...Under Trump, crude oil experienced a 5.56% increase between January and October 2025, ramping up from 13.14 million barrels per day (mbbl/d) to 13.87mbbl/d...More oil and gas means lower prices and, according to vice-president of policy for the Institute for Energy Research, Kenny Stein, 'oil prices now are too low, and general cost inflation too high, to justify a large investment in increased production...The biggest actual change so far is that leasing on federal lands (onshore and offshore) has the green light again,' says Stein. 'The administration has reversed the Biden Interior Department’s various – arguably illegal – moratoriums and restrictions, allowing leasing and operations to proceed as intended by congressional statute.”
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Coal is still king in West Virginia.
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Blue states choose high rates. That's the problem.
Wall Street Journal (1/17/26) reports: "President Trump has been fixated on lowering gasoline prices and convincing oil companies to 'drill, baby drill' since returning to office, but a bigger political fight is brewing over power. Electricity-cost increases are outpacing other kinds of inflation, vaulting utility bills into the political discourse across the U.S. ahead of the midterm elections. Trump administration officials gathered at the White House Friday with a group that included the governors of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia to push the nation’s largest grid operator to hold an emergency power auction. They want the U.S.’s biggest technology companies to bring their own power supplies or cover the cost for new power-plant construction to stem concerns that their data centers are driving up electricity prices for everyday Americans. Data centers are getting much of the blame for soaring power costs. Governors and senators of all political stripes are piling into debates over proposed rate increases, seizing on the issue as a point of consumer pain."
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Energy Markets
WTI Crude Oil: ↑ $59.57
Natural Gas: ↑ $3.95
Gasoline: ↓ $2.82
Diesel: ↑ $3.68
Heating Oil: ↑ $230.70
Brent Crude Oil: ↑ $64.33
US Rig Count: ↓ 583 |
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"The real threat of climate homicide comes not from the rational environmentalists seeking to improve human lives, but from alarmists calling for an end to the hydrocarbon-based energy that makes modern life possible."
– Travis Fisher, Cato Institute
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Last week the Institute for Energy Research released an updated edition of its Environmental Quality Index (EQI) report. The EQI compares the environmental performance of the world’s major producers of natural gas, oil, and coal.Energy production standards vary significantly between nations. The United States occupies a distinct position as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas and as a leading producer of coal, while operating under far stricter environmental and human-freedom protections than most other major energy-producing countries. Shifting production to those with weaker standards would worsen global outcomes.
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Ditching Maduro Will Help Keep America’s Backyard Free of Adversaries
AEA (1/19/26) blog: "Early in the morning of January 3, the U.S. carried out an operation to capture the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, to face trial in New York on charges of trafficking cocaine and partnering with cartels. Removing Maduro from power was long overdue. More than 50 countries do not recognize him as the legitimately elected president of Venezuela. Under his leadership, the Venezuelan state carried out numerous human rights abuses, suppressed political opposition, and destroyed the economy. Decades of socialism under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez, caused the once prosperous country to reach a 75% extreme poverty level among its citizens. Maduro oversaw a GDP decrease of three-quarters from 2014 to 2021 due to an oil price decline of 44% between June and December 2014, highlighting the extent to which Venezuela’s state-run economy was buffered by high oil prices during Chavez’s rule. Although the situation is still evolving, President Trump has firmly defended the legitimacy of the mission on national security and justice grounds. "
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