US president Donald Trump has signed an executive order establishing a new council focused on boosting the country’s production and export of fossil fuels.
Trump signed another executive order which formally created the National Energy Dominance Council with the primary purpose of driving up domestic oil and gas production.
The new council, to be headed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, will be granted authority over federal agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, and transportation. It was given instructions to cut bureaucratic red tape, enhance private sector investments, and focus on innovation.
Trump also revealed that Burgum was directed to undo Biden’s ban on future offshore oil drilling. Biden, on his way out, removed around 2.57m sq km of offshore federal waters along the east and west coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea.
The ban, however, is not repealable without an act of Congress because it is protected by the 72-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and a Supreme Court decision which states that a presidential order cannot undo a previous one.
The US Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives which both have a Republican majority, albeit very slender ones.
Another development regarding fossil fuels revealed during the executive order announcement was the award of a conditional export authorization for the Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana. The facility will export 9.5m tons of LNG per year at a new facility in Cameron Parish. This is the first approval of new LNG exports since former Biden paused considerations in January 2024.
Commonwealth LNG is scheduled to reach a final investment decision in September, with the first LNG production expected in early 2029. It is still awaiting a permit from FERC but that is expected to occur later in the year.
Trump said during the signing at the Oval Office that the US was blessed with “liquid gold” and that the country was “going to make more money than anybody’s ever made with energy”.
Energy News Beat