President Biden recently returned from his trip to Saudi Arabia with a fist bump photo-op, but no agreement on expanded energy production. Meanwhile, his administration continues to tout a "transition" to a "green energy economy" here at home while keeping a boot on the neck of the oil and gas industry. In a recent interview, Biden senior energy adviser Amos Hochstein discouraged long-term oil and gas development, while urging producers to invest in development that brings immediate returns.
The problem is that's not how oil and gas development work, according to those actually in the industry. "Oil and gas development, whether onshore of offshore, must have lead time, and must have a good long-term investment climate...which kind of doesn't exist in this administration," says David Holt, president of the Consumer Energy Alliance. "This zero-sum mindset that says we're just going to get what we can out of the ground now, and we're not going to have a future that relies on oil and natural gas? That's a flawed approach, and frankly it's just not possible."
This is just the latest in a series of frustrations the industry has had with Biden since he took office. Holt tells KTRH the administration's obsession with transitioning to green energy ignores reality. "Today, oil and natural gas is 82-percent of global energy use," he says. "So the demand goes up as the need goes up, and it's clear we're going to need oil and gas for a long, long time."
Instead, he urges the administration to embrace and accept an all-of-the-above approach to energy. "We have to ensure we have affordable, reliable, and environmentally responsible energy," says Holt. "Oil and gas is going to be part of that mix. That's a fact, and anyone who says otherwise is just not being honest."