Federal drilling permits rise as U.S. oil production surges to new records!
President Trump’s declaration of an energy emergency has helped clear hurdles and push the U.S. to the fastest rate of new oil and gas drilling permits in years, running 44% ahead of the Biden administration at the same point in his term.
As of 18 June, the Interior Department had approved 2,990 permits on federal and indigenous lands, compared with 2,071 for President Biden in 2021, according to government data. Under President Trump, that works out to roughly 600 permits monthly, a pace that hasn’t been reached in nearly two decades.
These permitting figures underscore a shift in this administration’s energy strategy – from the Biden administration’s approach, which used a range of tools to constrain oil and gas production, to one that allows producers greater freedom and flexibility to make production decisions based on market conditions.
During the transition from President Biden, the U.S. was already the global leader, producing more crude than any other country ever. President Trump declared an energy emergency, nonetheless, stating Americans were vulnerable to high energy prices and the U.S. was too dependent on foreign sources. Thus, Trump revoked some environmental restrictions, ordered reviews of others and called for departments to streamline the permitting process. The Interior Department announced emergency permitting reforms in April of this year to reduce the process to 28 days, a process that averaged more than 250 days under President Biden.
The United States is currently producing around 13.4 million barrels of crude oil per day. This represents a new record for the country, and it is more than any other nation has ever produced according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
