Elections

While very little changed politically across the Appalachian Basin’s key oil and natural gas producing states, the industry sees both opportunities and challenges after the midterm elections as Democrats and Republicans step into new roles throughout the region.

Tuesday’s midterm elections saw some of the blue wave, as Democrats took control of the House, but western voters supported the energy industry with the defeat of Colorado’s Proposition 112, which threatened nearly all drilling locations for some of the state’s leading producers.

Colorado voters on Tuesday decisively rejected Proposition 112, which threatened nearly all drilling locations for some of the state’s leading producers, in what proved to be one of the most consequential political battles to confront the oil and gas industry this election season.

Following the decisive and historic victory of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in the July 1 presidential election, Mexico’s natural gas sector is in wait-and-see mode as the dust settles from the campaign and the new administration prepares to take office.

Mexico’s leftist president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his top energy adviser, Rocío Nahle, have somewhat quelled investor concerns since the July 1 election by signaling that they will not reverse course on the country’s 2013-14 constitutional energy reform.

Socialist and former Mexico City mayor Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador is slated to be Mexico’s next president after cruising to a landslide victory in Sunday’s general election.

Analysts with Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research(BofAML) said the election of Donald Trump caught financial markets by surprise and that uncertainty will likely continue through the medium term, in part because of comments the president-elect made on the campaign trail about free trade and immigration.

Wayne Christian, a former Texas state representative, beat real estate mogul Gary Gates in the Republican runoff in the contest for a seat on the three-member Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC).

The Ohio Supreme Court ordered a grassroots initiative in Youngstown that seeks to amend the city’s charter to prohibit oil and gas industry activity back on the November ballot, reversing the local county board of elections’ decision not to certify the issue for a vote.