During his campaign and since taking office, President Donald Trump often repeated his desire to bring back the same “drill, baby, drill” oil and gas agenda that characterized his first term in office.
But that term began 8 long years ago and much has changed in the domestic oil business since then. Current market realities are likely to mitigate the industry’s response to Trump’s easing of the Biden administration’s efforts to restrict its activities.
Trump’s second term begins as the upstream segment of the industry has enjoyed three years of strong profitability and overall production growth by employing a strategy of capital discipline, technology deployment and the capture of economies of scale in the nation’s big shale play areas. Companies like, say, ExxonMobil and Oxy and their peers are unlikely to respond to the easing of government regulations by discarding these strategies that have brought such financial success in favor of moving into a new drilling boom.
This bias in favor of maintenance of the status quo is especially likely given that the big shale plays in the Permian Basin, Eagle Ford Shale, Bakken Shale, Haynesville and the Marcellus/Utica region have all advanced into the long-term development phases of the natural life cycle typical of every oil and gas resource play over the past 175 years. Absent the discovery of major new shale or other types of oil-or-natural gas-bearing formations, a new drilling boom seems quite unlikely under any circumstances.
One market factor that could result in a somewhat higher active rig count would be a sudden rise in crude oil prices, if it appears likely to last for a long period of time. Companies like Exxon, Chevron, Oxy and Diamondback Energy certainly have the capability to quickly activate a significant number of additional rigs to take advantage of long-term higher prices.
But crude prices are set on a global market, and that market has appeared over-supplied in recent months with little reason to believe the supply/demand equation will change significantly in the near future. Indeed, the OPEC+ cartel has been forced to postpone planned production increases several times over the past 12 months as an over-supplied market has caused prices to hover well below the group’s target price.
But it is wrong to think the domestic oil industry will not respond in any way to Trump’s efforts to remove Biden’s artificial roadblocks to energy progress. Trump’s efforts to speed up permitting for energy projects of all kinds are likely to result in a significant build-out of much-needed new natural gas pipeline capacity, natural gas power generation plants and new LNG export terminals and supporting infrastructure.
Instead of another four years of “drill, baby, drill,” the Trump efforts to speed energy development seem certain to result in four years of a “build, baby, build” boom.
Indeed, the industry is already responding in a big way in the LNG export sector of the business. During Trump’s first week in office, LNG exporter Venture Global launched what is the largest energy IPO by value in U.S. history, going public with a total market cap of $65 billion.
With five separate export projects currently in various stages of development, all in South Louisiana, Venture Global plans to become a major player in one of America’s major growth industries in the coming years. Trump’s Day 1 reversal of Biden’s senseless permitting pause on LNG infrastructure is likely to kick off a number of additional LNG projects by other operators.
The Trump effect took hold even before he took office when the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation entered into an exclusive agreement in early January with developer Glenfarne to advance the $44 billion Alaska LNG project. The aim is to start to deliver gas in 2031, with LNG exports following shortly thereafter.
America’s oil and gas industry has demonstrated it can consistently grow overall production to new records even with a falling rig count in recent years. Now it must grow its related infrastructure to account for the rising production.
That’s why Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” mantra is likely to transform into “build, baby, build” in the months and years to come.
David Blackmon is a contributor to The Daily Caller News Foundation, an energy writer, and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.
Attorney General Kris Mayes wants to hire the federal prosecutors behind former President Joe Biden’s January 6 investigations.
On Sunday, Mayes put out an offer to hire those prosecutors, as well as any other federal agents that may be terminated in the Trump administration’s newly-launched review of all involved in January 6 investigations.
“My message to all FBI agents and federal prosecutors who are being wrongfully fired by Trump: come see me about a job,” said Mayes. “We are hiring at the AZ Attorney General’s office and we actually support law enforcement.”
My message to all FBI agents and federal prosecutors who are being wrongfully fired by Trump: come see me about a job. We are hiring at the AZ Attorney General’s office and we actually support law enforcement. https://t.co/hGhRjusTWv
Last Friday, Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership sent a memo ordering the immediate firing of all federal prosecutors who oversaw the January 6 cases.
Emil Bove — the acting deputy attorney general — also ordered acting FBI director Brian Driscoll to hand over the names of all FBI employees involved in the January 6 cases.
“I do not believe that the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully,” explained Bove in his correspondence.
However, Driscoll refused perThe Washington Times. Driscoll said the request pertained to himself and “thousands” of other employees within the agency. Driscoll’s refusal occurred over the weekend as FBI agents involved in the case against Trump over the Mar-a-Lago classified documents were removed from field offices in New York, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
This wouldn’t be the first instance of Mayes’ office scouting of those ousted for their work in the Biden administration. Their offices are also considering law school graduates whose offers of employment from the Biden administration were rescinded by the Trump administration.
Chief Deputy Attorney General Daniel Barr announced Mayes’ interest in hiring those sought out by the prior Democrat-led administration on LinkedIn last week.
“Plenty of opportunities at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office for recent law school graduates whose job offers were recently rescinded by the Department of Justice,” said Barr. “We do vital and interesting work in protecting, and pursuing justice for, the state of Arizona and its people.”
Another key player caught up by the Democratic Party’s unsuccessful bid for a consecutive presidential term has already found a soft landing within Mayes’ office.
The attorney general’s office recently hired the Arizona communications director for Kamala Harris’ campaign, Delaney Corcoran; she is now serving in a similar deputy communications position.
Although Mayes has indicated an eagerness to hire those ousted by the Trump administration, she is also fighting to keep them within the federal government.
On Monday, Mayes joined 11 other Democratic attorneys general in urging the two million-plus federal employees tapped by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) for a “deferred resignation program” to contact their unions for guidance.
The deferred resignation program would enable the tapped employees to receive their regular pay and benefits through the end of September — but only if they enter by voluntarily resigning ahead of the Thursday deadline. Otherwise, OPM warned, they may be part of the next administration purge and not be eligible for the extended pay and benefits period.
Mayes called the program “completely unreliable” and possibly “unenforceable” in a press release.
“My office will do everything in our power to protect Arizona workers and we urge you to follow your union’s guidance,” said Mayes. “This so-called buyout offer is yet another attack that will cripple the critical federal services Arizonans rely on.”
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A Tucson high school is short one less physics teacher after he challenged Donald Trump’s denial of the existence of more than two genders.
Les Beard, a physics teacher at Marana High School, taught his students that a certain intersex disorder, androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS), actually caused some males to be females.
Independent journalist James O’Keefe posted a recording of Beard’s lecture on AIS captured by a student, and later reported Beard’s suspension.
JUST IN : Mr. Les Beard has been suspended from Marana High School after @OKeefeMedia released a recording of the Physics teacher telling his students that men can be women if they have androgen immunodeficiency syndrome. https://t.co/VASNdoqpIE
Beard claimed in his lecture that those with AIS were women with both female and male sex organs. Beard included a brief remark challenging the premises of President Donald Trump’s public stance and recent executive orders on gender identity.
“But usually all of these women have female sex organs, they do have male sex organs as well. So if you take an x-ray of them, you’ll see what guys have. But if you look, if you were to look at them, they look quite ordinary. So what are they? Are these guys? Mr. Trump says so,” said Beard. “And [the doctors] tell you, ‘Well, you’re really a guy,’ but none of them really believe it because they’ve been women all their lives.”
One of Trump’s first executive orders upon taking office last week declared the existence of only two genders: male and female.
All individuals with AIS have XY chromosomes, which means the biological sex of all AIS individuals is male. Contrary to Beard’s assertion, those with AIS don’t have “female sex organs.” AIS individuals don’t possess a female reproductive system: no ovaries, fallopian tubes, or uterus. Menstruation, ovulation, and pregnancy are impossible.
AIS is one of 30-odd intersex genetic disorders. Intersex disorders are conditions characterized by atypical sexual or reproductive anatomy. AIS concerns a defective bodily response to androgens, the hormones responsible for male development.
AIS mens’ bodies are unable to properly respond to androgens, such as testosterone (the primary androgen). This inability to respond to testosterone causes the underdevelopment or lack of any development of a penis as well as fully or partially undescended testicles.
As a result of their androgen insensitivity, AIS men may have genitals that appear female, but they are not female genitals. Additionally, AIS individuals may develop breasts because their bodies aren’t able to respond to androgens: the male sex hormones. For these reasons, some AIS men are raised as females — this does not make them female, however. Biologically, they are men with a genetic disorder.
In a report corresponding to the leaked audio, O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) included the following statement from Marana High School District spokeswoman Allison Benjamin:
“We are proud to provide our students with challenging academics, full extracurricular offerings, and experiences that enhance their personal growth and development. To help provide optimal learning environments for all students, we have adopted policies that provide guidance and expectations for teachers and staff, including: 1. Teaching to the state standards that are focused on course content. 2. Providing a learning environment where teachers remain neutral and refrain from sharing their personal beliefs and opinions. Our district is committed to making sure these policies are clear and honored by all staff. The administration will follow appropriate guidelines detailed in district policy to ensure all staff fulfill these expectations.”
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After Tuesday’s blunder from Arizona’s chief executive, those across the state are again questioning the competency of Governor Katie Hobbs and her staffers.
Hobbs submitted an error-ridden letter to the Arizona Congressional Delegation on Tuesday afternoon requesting their assistance in resisting the Trump administration’s federal funding freeze.
Hobbs’ letter failed to include two of Arizona’s congress members: Congressmen Abraham Hamadeh and Paul Gosar. Her letter also incorrectly claimed Trump’s federal funding freeze extended to federal assistance programs providing individuals with healthcare, public safety, veterans’ services, and financial assistance.
“Without these programs, Arizonans will be denied healthcare, families will struggle to stay housed, and communities will become less safe. The effects of this funding freeze will have impacts across the state, and weaken Arizona’s ability to care for its residents,” said Hobbs. “Congress must act. These actions directly violate the Constitution’s delegation of power of the purse to Congress and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974. Courts, including the Supreme Court, have made it clear that presidents cannot unilaterally withhold the funding appropriated by Congress for these services.”
Hobbs also threatened to sue the Trump administration over its funding freeze.
As the White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clarified in a memo and other public statements preceding Hobbs’ letter, the federal funding freeze doesn’t affect programs providing direct benefits to individuals. The OMB supplemented its memo with a Q&A on the guidance.
“This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump Administration. Individual assistance that includes […] Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits […] will not be impacted by this pause,” said Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during Tuesday morning’s White House press briefing.
.@PressSec: "This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump Administration. Individual assistance that includes…Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits…will not be impacted by this pause." pic.twitter.com/4Ifx4cm97P
The following executive orders pertain to the federal funding freeze: “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” “Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,” “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements,” “Unleashing American Energy,” “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” and “Enforcing the Hyde Amendment.”
An OMB memorandum meant to offer guidance on those executive orders, M-25-13, prompted an eleventh-hour federal court injunction on Tuesday. The federal funding freeze was scheduled to take place at 5 pm on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, Leavitt confirmed that the OMB rescinded its memo to “end any confusion” created by the injunction. In effect, this provided the administration with a workaround to the court order. A follow-up OMB memo advising of its rescission directed agencies to contact their general counsel for implementation of Trump’s executive orders.
“The President’s [Executive Orders] on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented,” said Leavitt.
As first reported by the Arizona Daily Independent, other leaders took the effort to clarify the scope of the federal funding freeze — among them, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“I’ve spoken to senior officials at the White House and confirmed the temporary pause by OMB does not impact individual assistance and will not interrupt disaster recovery efforts, school and childcare funding, healthcare for seniors or low-income families, funding for our roads, meals and lunches, or any of the other misinformation that has spread,” said Youngkin. “The partisan stunt to disseminate knowingly misleading information is dangerous fearmongering and completely wrong.”
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Over 7,300 illegal aliens have been deported in President Donald Trump’s first week in office, per the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
DHS published this latest dataset on Monday. Following Trump’s inauguration, DHS and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began posting daily updates with immigration enforcement totals.
DHS reported that among these 7,300 apprehensions were “hundreds of convicted criminals” for crimes such as sexual assault and rape, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault and battery, drugs and weapons offenses, domestic violence, suspected terrorism, firearms trafficking, kidnapping, vehicular manslaughter, driving while impaired, and possession of an illegal substance.
This latest update follows the Senate’s confirmation of South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem last Saturday as Trump’s DHS secretary.
“Ensuring Americans’ safety and securing the border is President Trump’s and Secretary Noem’s top priority,” stated DHS.
DHS also reported that their novel implementation of deportation flights returned many of these detained illegal aliens to Mexico, Jordan, Brazil, and El Salvador.
In the first week of the Trump Administration, we have fulfilled President Trump's promise to the American people to arrest and deport violent criminals illegally in the country. In one week, law enforcement officials have removed and returned 7,300 illegal aliens. pic.twitter.com/JKZYMD0f00
In remarks made Monday during the House GOP’s annual Congressional Institute conference, Trump declared his administration’s use of military planes for deportations marked a historic approach to U.S. immigration enforcement.
“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came — and made clear to every country they will be taking back their people,” said Trump.
Per data provided by ICE in their daily enforcement updates, as of Monday there were over 3,500 arrests and 2,650 detainers lodged since Trump took office.
Under Trump, immigration and law enforcement officials have also begun “enhanced targeted operations” on major hotspots for illegal aliens. On Sunday, ICE announced a partnership on such an operation with the FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP, and Marshals Service to enforce immigration law in Chicago, Illinois.
“For the record: targeted enforcement operations are planned arrests of known criminal aliens who threaten national security or public safety,” stated ICE.
Chicago considers itself a “sanctuary city.” Chicago and other cities which adopted this status are now under investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, per a letter sent to local leaders on Monday. Other sanctuary cities named in that letter were New York City, New York; Denver, Colorado; and Boston, Massachusetts.
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) January 26, 2025
Although Phoenix declined years ago to declare itself a sanctuary city officially, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego maintains a position similar to those maintained by sanctuary city leaders. Last November, in the weeks following Trump’s election, Gallego declared that no city resources would be used for mass deportation efforts.
“I can say without equivocation that as long as I’m mayor, Phoenix will not use its police department—or any city resources whatsoever—to assist in mass deportation efforts by the Trump Administration,” said Gallego in a statement to Arizona’s Family.
Phoenix Police Department policy set years ago requires sergeant approval prior to contacting ICE.
Reportedly, Phoenix city leaders plan to meet privately for legal advice on the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The Department of Justice issued a three-page memo last week directing U.S. attorneys to investigate any state and local officials who refuse to cooperate with immigration enforcement.
“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands or requests,” read the memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
The Trump administration put in a workaround to these refusals by major cities on immigration enforcement. Several days after Trump’s inauguration, then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Benjamine Huffman issued an internal memo granting immigration enforcement authority to law enforcement agents throughout various agencies, as reported exclusively by The Wall Street Journal.
Days later, the Phoenix office of the DEA announced its partnership with the DOJ and DHS in carrying out illegal alien apprehensions. Like its federal peers, the Phoenix DEA has taken to posting about their work with greater frequency since their Sunday announcement of a federal partnership.
Like Phoenix city leadership, Tucson’s city leaders vowed in a press release to not participate in any federal immigration enforcement efforts.
In his first week in office, Trump’s administration also ended the CBP One app enabling illegal entry into the border, and repealed ex-Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ memo limiting ICE agents.
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