The newly inaugurated US President Donald Trump made clear the core tenets of his energy policy in the opening days of his second term; US energy dominance and low oil prices. After claiming in his inauguration speech that the “liquid gold beneath our feet” will drive renewed American prosperity, Mr Trump then told the World Economic Forum in Davos on 23 January that “I’m also going to ask Saudi Arabia and Opec to bring down the cost of oil.”
But the twin drivers of Mr Trump’s energy policies don’t always sit comfortably side by side. After spending most of his first term calling out Opec for inflating oil prices, he quickly U-turned during the Covid-19 pandemic as low oil prices forced US producers to begin shutting in wells, and played a role in brokering the April 2020 Opec+ deal which stabilized the sector (MEES, 17 April 2020). (CONTINUED - 1106 WORDS)
