Trump is about to declare a national energy emergency, expanding his legal options to address the high costs.
President-elect Donald Trump reacts during a MAGA victory rally at Capital One Arena in Washington, DC on January 19, 2025, a day before his inauguration.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Images
President-elect Donald Trump will declare a national energy emergency after taking office on Monday to cut energy costs, a White House official told reporters.
The official said the national energy emergency would “open up a variety of different authorities” to produce more natural resources, without specifying which authorities Trump would use.
“The national energy emergency is critical because we are in an AI race with China, and because our ability to produce domestic energy in the U.S. is critical to generating the electricity and power needed to stay at the forefront of global technology,” the official told reporters.
Trump is also set to sign an executive order to freeze Alaska’s energy production, the official said.
“Alaska is key to our national security in terms of its geostrategic location, and it is an important place to export LNG not only to other parts of the United States, but also to our friends and partners in the Asia-Pacific region,” the official said.
The United States has been producing crude oil for years ahead of Saudi Arabia and Russia. The CEOs of Exxon and Chevron said oil and gas production levels depended on market conditions and were unlikely to increase significantly in response to a reaction from the White House.
“There’s still some headwinds,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC’s Brian Sullivan in a Jan. 8 interview. But it probably won’t progress as much as we’ve seen over the years, especially as some of these new shale plays start to mature.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods told CNBC that US shale production has not faced “external constraints” under the Biden administration.
“Certainly we’re not going to see change based on political change, but more on the economic environment,” Woods said in a Nov. 1 interview before Trump’s election victory. “I don’t think anyone is developing a business strategy in response to a political agenda,” he said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
