In a significant move to expand the United States’ energy sector, President Donald Trump has signed two executive orders aimed at increasing fossil fuel production and export. The first establishes the National Energy Dominance Council, tasked with driving domestic oil and gas production.
Headed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the council will oversee federal agencies involved in energy permitting, production, distribution, regulation, and transportation. Its mandate includes reducing bureaucratic obstacles, fostering private sector investment, and encouraging innovation within the energy sector.
In a direct challenge to the policies of the Biden administration, Trump also directed Burgum to work towards overturning President Biden’s ban on future offshore oil drilling. Biden’s administration had removed approximately 2.57 million square kilometers of offshore federal waters, including areas along the east and west coasts, the Gulf of Mexico, and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea. However, this ban is protected by the 72-year-old Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which makes it difficult to repeal without an act of Congress.
While Republicans hold a slender majority in both chambers of Congress, the process of overturning the ban may be challenging without legislative support.
Further developments were announced alongside the executive orders, including the approval of a conditional export authorization for the Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana. This new facility, based in Cameron Parish, will have the capacity to export 9.5 million tons of LNG annually. The approval marks the first new LNG export authorization since Biden paused such considerations in January 2024.
The Commonwealth LNG project is set to make its final investment decision in September, with LNG production expected to commence in early 2029, though it is still awaiting a permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
In a statement during the signing ceremony at the Oval Office, Trump praised the country’s energy resources, declaring, “We are blessed with liquid gold, and we are going to make more money than anybody’s ever made with energy.”