Ranked among the top oil producers in the nation, Oklahoma could eventually see changes from Trump’s energy plans announced Jan. 20. Along with declaring a “national energy emergency,” which states the country lacks adequate energy to sustain its way of life, the president also laid out a broad energy agenda titled “Unleashing American Energy.”
Although the U.S. has produced more oil than any other nation since 2018, Trump said policies from the previous administration impeded the development of natural resources. Expanding energy from renewable sources is not mentioned in the orders and many initiatives funding so-called “green” policies were reversed.
Announcing plans to peel back regulations on oil and gas companies led to a feeling of relief for the state’s producers, according to the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance (OEPA). But the implementation of “Unleashing American Energy” remains uncertain.
“When I read it, it seems to set some policy goals, which do not have any immediate legal effect at any level of government,” said Joe Schremmer, associate professor at The University of Oklahoma’s College of Law and trustee for The Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law.
Under former President Joe Biden, the federal Environmental Protection Agency was working to limit methane emissions from fossil fuel production. For oil and gas companies, that means time and money spent to stay in compliance. Small producers could be particularly impacted.
“A regulation that Conoco, Philips or Chevron can easily meet and measure and report on becomes an incredible burden to a producer that's got 20 wells and pumps them himself, and his wife keeps the books on the kitchen table,” said David House, legislative chairman for OEPA.
Regulations to limit methane, a potent greenhouse gas known to heat the atmosphere and contribute to human-caused climate change, were finalized in November. Trump’s administration may target that rule to ease regulations on oil and gas companies.
Section 3 of his executive order calls for a review of regulations that “impose an undue burden” on domestic energy resources, with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal and other sources.
“In theory, if as a result of the executive order, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency, in fact, were to rescind the regulations, any variety of emissions regulations, that would save the industry a substantial amount, in terms of compliance costs,” Schremmer said.
In his inauguration address, Trump said, “We will drill, baby, drill,” yet a significant increase may not become a reality in Oklahoma. Trump hopes to open more public lands for fossil fuel exploration, which are not widely found in the state.
“ I don't think drilling will be impacted in Oklahoma,” House said. “I do think that there's a couple things on the market side that he is proposing that will be pretty significant to Oklahoma.”
Encouraging liquified natural gas exports, which were paused under the Biden administration, could have a trickle-down effect on Oklahoma. The state ranks fifth for its production of natural gas. House said an increase in marketing natural gas globally could help Oklahoma’s economy.
An increased supply could also lead to an adverse effect, Schremmer said.
“In the bookkeeping of an average producer in Oklahoma, that could actually hurt the price,” he said. “But it could also make for more robust markets abroad for domestically produced liquefied natural gas, which in the long run might be an economic good for producers of natural gas in the United States.”
Trump’s effort to slow the expansion of renewable energy, from which Oklahoma generates nearly half of its electricity, and bolster oil and gas companies was made clear during his campaign and inauguration. Still, changes to the state’s energy industries and environment likely won’t be immediate, Schremmer said.
“From issuing the executive order to the day where life changes in Oklahoma because of it, we're a very long ways away from that, I think,” he said.
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