ESG, debanking fears choking off capital from American fracking even as energy prices rise
In exclusive comments to The Epoch Times, Tim Stewart, the president of the U.S. Oil & Gas Association, said his industry has faced unprecedented hostility from D.C. under the Biden administration.
“In my 30 years of working in Washington, this has without a doubt been the most unfavorable political and regulatory environment for our industry I have ever seen,” said Stewart. “It started on Day One, and it continues.”
Stewart referenced President Joe Biden’s promise at last Friday’s press conference that he would “work like the devil” to lower gasoline prices. He said it ran contrary to the administration’s prior actions on oil and gas, including cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline and a freeze on oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.
“My response would be: ‘You’ve worked like the devil to jack up prices until last Friday,’” Stewart said.
Energy analyst David Blackmon, an editor for Shale Magazine, voiced strong agreement with Stewart.
“In the U.S., we have a presidential administration that has spent a year now taking every action at its disposal to hinder domestic oil and gas production, as well as the build-out of transportation infrastructure to move it to market. We have Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress who inserted significant anti-fossil fuel provisions into their infrastructure bill and sought even more in the failed Build Back Better legislation,” Blackmon told The Epoch Times in an email interview.
“The oil and gas industry has never faced such a degree of open hostility from the political community,” he added.
Blackmon and Stewart spoke to The Epoch Times at a time when energy prices are surging.
Brent crude, a key international benchmark for oil prices, has increased from $64 per barrel in 2019 to more than $96 a barrel on Feb. 14, as reported by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and Reuters, respectively.
While the EIA predicted on Jan. 12 that Brent would fall from $79 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $75 per barrel in 2022, its February outlook revised the 2022 average upward to $82 a barrel.
The investment firm Raymond James projects that oil could hit $125 per barrel by midway through 2022, as reported by Bloomberg.
Gasoline prices have also risen. AAA reports the average national price of a gallon of regular gas was $3.488 on Feb. 14, up from $3.306 a month before and $2.505 a year ago.
