An interesting review article published by Reuters has looked at the “counter-intuitive” fossil fuel boom that has occurred during the term of the Biden administration, with record oil production, rising exports, and growth in jobs, shareholder returns, CEO pay, and onshore drilling permit approvals. This is despite the efforts of the administration to push the USA towards a lower carbon-intense economy, along with the recent pause on new LNG exports, cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline approval, and the upcoming methane charge, which is scheduled to begin in 2025.

The biggest driver of the growth of US oil and gas has been higher energy prices brought about partly by the covid pandemic and partly by the Russian invasion of Ukraine – not forces the Biden administration has had any level of control over. Profits of the top five public oil and gas companies in the first three years of the Biden administration were double those during the first three years of the Trump administration, while the Dow Jones share price index for oil and gas companies decreased by around 40% during the Trump years, and have increased by almost 120% with Biden in power.

These findings, if more well known, would likely be awkward to deal with for both sides of politics. The White House’s position, as told to Reuters, is that higher oil and gas profits are enabling companies to spend more on decarbonising the energy sector, while higher oil output is satisfying immediate needs.

A spokesperson from the American Petroleum Institute is of the view that the Biden administration policies could damage the industry over the long term (just as Trump-era policies may have led to some of the growth during the Biden era), particularly in relation to leasing, LNG, and infrastructure development; consumers, on the other hand, have experienced higher prices under Biden than under Trump, and may punish Mr Biden for it in the November elections.