TRUMP'S LICENSE TO DRILL

After pumping money into the election cycle, the oil and gas industry now want the president to follow through on his pledge

- JEFF YOUNG

AS PRESIDENT DONALD Trump's picks for energy posts faced confirmation hearings, the oil industry's top lobbying group detailed its recommendations for the incoming administration. The industry spent a record amount to help elect Trump and other Republicans, and their energy wish list would mark a dramatic reversal on many of the country's climate and energy policies.

The American Petroleum Institute rolled out its energy "road map" for the Trump administration and the new Republican-controlled Congress on January 14. Topping the list: expanded drilling areas and the reversal of rules by President Joe Biden's administration on auto emissions and natural gas exports.

"This past November, American energy was on the ballot, and American energy won," API President and CEO Mike Sommers said in a press briefing as he attempted to turn Republican victories in the presidential and congressional races into a mandate for fossil fuel development. "There are many steps the Trump administration can begin to take on Day 1," he said.

The oil and gas sector gave more money to Republican and conservative candidates and political groups in the 2024 election cycle than in any previous election, according to the independent campaign finance watchdog group OpenSecrets.

OpenSecrets data shows roughly $239 million in total political spending by the oil and gas sector in the 2024 election cycle, roughly 60 percent more than in the 2020 cycle. About 89 percent of the industry money went to Republican or conservative groups, mostly in the form of so-called "soft money" or outside spending.

Even though oil and gas production surged during Biden's term—the U.S. now produces more crude oil than any country, ever—Sommers said Trump should begin by overturning Biden's recent ban on new offshore drilling permits on hundreds of millions of acres along the Atlantic, Pacific and Florida Gulf coasts.