This week, the world’s most influential fossil-fuels conference, which has been dubbed the “Coachella of oil”, featured an industry displaying outward glee but barely managing to conceal its anxiety.
As recently as last year, sustainability was a major focus at the annual Houston convention, known as CeraWeek, with fossil-fuel companies touting climate plans. But in the wake of Donald Trump’s re-election, the industry is undergoing a vibe shift, forgoing talk of the energy transition and instead parroting the president’s focus on energy “dominance”.
The mood at this year’s CeraWeek was at times not only celebratory but also swaggering. The US energy secretary, Chris Wright, kicked off the conference on Monday by saying the Trump administration was “unabashedly pursuing a policy of more American energy production”. Days later, as the White House announced an unprecedented series of environmental rollbacks, the interior secretary, Doug Burgum, invoked Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” mantra and claimed White House officials would cut 20 to 30% of US regulations.
Executives who only months ago were touting their sustainability bona fides heaped praise on the administration. Amin Nasser, CEO of the Saudi national oil company, Saudi Aramco, said the shift away from fossil fuels had been “doomed to fail”, while Larry Fink, head of top asset manager BlackRock, wore a silicone bracelet that read “make energy great again”. The ConocoPhillips chief, Ryan Lance, said Trump had “probably the best energy team in the United States we’ve had in decades”, while the Chevron chief, Mike Wirth, shouted out the “well-qualified people in the Trump administration”.
BP, once called a climate leader in the industry, distanced itself from its recent sustainability pledges, calling instead to ramp up US gas output, which already reached record levels under Biden.
“We have a fabulous position here in the Gulf of America,” said its CEO, Murray Auchincloss.
Calls for “energy abundance” featured heavily, especially amid conversations about a coming boom in demand from the burgeoning artificial intelligence industry.
And the theme of abundance carried over to the amenities offered, too.
The price of admission, which topped $10,000, included daily charcuterie spreads and access to unlimited bubble tea. Burgum’s speech was at a luncheon featuring a three-course plated meal. Wine flowed from open bars at nightly receptions and parties like gas from the nearby shale fields of Texas. (One notable shindig, thrown by the oil and gas companies Williams and EQT, was a 1990s-themed and featured a live band. Its name: “Nothin’ But a Gas Thang.”)
Not everyone in Houston was pleased about the state of the US energy industry, however. On the first day of CeraWeek, hundreds of activists from across the country held a protest, marking the…
Read More: Big oil gathers in Texas – but beneath the bravado, Trump-induced anxiety |
