Americas News
Trump Bashes Obama on Oil, But Kilduff Says the President May Have Done Shale a Favour
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's Thursday tirade at president Barack Obama for passing onerous regulations against the oil and gas sector is music to the ears of beleaguered industry representatives; but one prominent analyst says Obama may have actually done U.S. drillers a favour.
John Kilduff, founding partner of Again Capital, told CNBC's Squawk Box that had not the president refused to open up new federal land to drillers, "Prices might have gone even lower if we had even more production on line from some of these federal lands."
He added, somewhat tongue in cheek, "For an administration that gets a lot of criticism for not having an energy policy, they produced $26 oil for a few moments there."
Kilduff went on to argue that contrary to claims made on the campaign trail that the U.S. has not brought a new refinery on line in decades, "The fact of the matter is we've expanded the ones we've had tremendously over the past several years," and that U.S. crude stockpiles are currently at an 80-year high.
As rational as Kilduff's remarks may be with regard to what it will truly take to bring back a proper supply and demand balance, Trump's incendiary remarks about restricting America's energy producing capabilities continue to resonate amongst followers – and contain more than a grain of truth.
Speaking in Bismarck, North Dakota on Thursday, the billionaire called on Washington to "get out of the way" of the industry, remarking, "We've got to get rid of some of these regulations; it's gotten out of control."
In vowing to free up the coal sector, revive the Keystone XL pipeline project, and cancel the Paris climate accords, Trump noted that increased energy production would create jobs and generate money that can be invested in infrastructure.
Amongst the daily headlines Trump generates is a recent item that his advisor, Republican congressman Kevin Cramer, is calling for an investigation of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to determine if the cartel is guilty of unfair trade practices.
