“IF I’M NOT president, you’re fucked.” So Donald Trump reportedly told a roomful of oil bosses gathered at Mar-a-Lago after his re-election. During the campaign Mr Trump sought to position himself as the American oil industry’s only hope against the supposedly hydrocarbon-hating Democrats—brushing aside the fact that domestic oil production rose sharply during Joe Biden’s time in office. Since his arrival in the White House, he has set about rolling back environmental regulations and expedited permitting in an effort to get America’s oilmen to “drill, baby, drill”.
