Trump Readying Energy Blitz: LNG Permits, Drilling, and Keystone Redux Top Day-One Agenda

By Jarrett Renshaw

Nov 25 (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s transition team is putting together a wide-ranging energy package to roll out within days of his taking office that would approve export permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects and increase oil drilling off the U.S. coast and on federal lands, according to two sources familiar with the plans.

The energy checklist largely reflects promises Trump made on the campaign trail, but the plan to roll out the list as early as day one ensures that oil and gas production will rank alongside immigration as a pillar of Trump’s early agenda.

Trump, a Republican, also plans to repeal some of his Democratic predecessor’s key climate legislation and regulations, such as tax credits for electric vehicles and new clean power plant standards that aim to phase out coal and natural gas, the sources said.

An early priority would be lifting President Joe Biden’s election-year pause on new export permits for LNG and moving swiftly to approve pending permits, the sources said. Trump would also look to expedite drilling permits on federal lands and quickly reopen five-year drilling plans off the U.S. coast to include more lease sales, the sources said. 

In a symbolic gesture, Trump would seek to approve the Keystone Pipeline, an issue that was an environmental flashpoint and which was halted after Biden canceled a key permit on his first day in office. But any company looking to build the multibillion-dollar effort to carry Canadian crude oil to the U.S. would need to start from scratch because things like easements have been returned to landowners.

“The American people can bank on President Trump using his executive power on day one to deliver on the promises he made to them on the campaign trail,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s transition spokesperson, said in a statement.

Many of the elements in the plan would require time to move through Congress or the nation’s regulatory system. Trump has promised to declare an energy emergency on his first day in office that could test whether he can bypass those barriers to impose some changes on an accelerated schedule.

Trump would also call on Congress to provide new funding so he can replenish the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, established as an emergency crude oil supply and which was depleted under Biden to help manage price spikes caused by the Ukraine crisis and high inflation during the pandemic. Replenishing the reserve would boost short-term oil demand and encourage U.S. production.

Trump is also expected to put pressure on the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based energy watchdog that advises industrialized countries on energy policy. Republicans have criticized the IEA’s focus on policies to reduce emissions. Trump’s advisers have urged him to withhold funding unless the IEA takes a more pro-oil position. 

“I have pushed Trump in person and his team generally on pressuring the IEA to return to its core mission of energy security and to pivot away from greenwashing,” said Dan Eberhart, CEO of oilfield service firm Canary. 

TRUMP ‘PLANS TO GO STRONG’ ON LNG

Biden put a freeze on new LNG export permits in January to study the environmental impacts, in an election-year move aimed at making gains with the party’s green voting blocs. Without the export permits, developers cannot go ahead with multi-year construction plans for new projects. Projects delayed include Venture Global’s CP2, Commonwealth LNG, and Energy Transfer’s ET.N Lake Charles complex, all of which are in Louisiana.

The United States is the world’s top producer of natural gas, and became the No. 1 exporter of LNG in 2023 as Europe looked to America to wean itself off Russia’s vast energy supplies following the invasion of Ukraine. 

The Biden administration promised to release the environmental study before Trump assumes the White House on Jan. 20, but it would have no influence on the incoming administration, the sources said. 

“The LNG issue is a lay-up and he plans to go strong on the issue,” said one of the sources. 

There are five U.S. LNG export projects that have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but are still awaiting permit approvals at the Department of Energy, federal records show.

Biden’s pause also halted necessary environmental reviews, portions of which may still be needed for the five pending DOE permits to withstand legal scrutiny.

LOOKING TO DRILL OFFSHORE AND ON FEDERAL LANDS 

Trump would look to accelerate drilling off the U.S. coast and on federal lands. 

The average time to complete a drilling permit on federal and Indian land averaged 258 days in the first three years of Biden’s administration, up from 172 days during the four years of Trump’s presidency, according to federal data.

Trump is expected to expedite pending permits, hold sales more frequently and offer land that is more likely to deliver oil, the sources said. 

Despite the lag time in permit approvals, Biden’s Interior Department approved more onshore oil drilling permits on average than Trump’s first administration, federal records show. 

Oil output on federal lands and waters hit a record in 2023, while gas production reached its highest level since 2016, according to federal data. 

Drilling activity on federal lands and waters accounts for about a quarter of U.S. oil production and 12% of gas output.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; additional reporting by Nichola Groom and Timothy Gardner; Editing by Leslie Adler)

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