Trump

Maryland and Florida are moving forward with efforts designed to hamper the Trump administration’s plans to expand oil and natural gas drilling in the offshore.

The executive board of the American Petroleum Institute (API), along with several Big Oil executives, met with President Trump and Vice President Pence at the White House on Thursday to discuss a range of issues that affect the oil and natural gas industry.

A freewheeling discussion Friday morning uncorked rare criticism of President Trump by GOP Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who expressed concerns about the new tariffs and the potential makeover of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the final day of CERAWeek by IHS Markit.

As President Trump considers imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, a coalition of trade groups representing the oil and gas industry urged the president to at least consider exemptions for steel products in the energy sector, especially when there isn’t a sufficient domestic supply.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Tuesday said it was “wasteful” for natural gas to be flared from oil wells, but he wants to find a way to incentivize rather than penalize operators.

The U.S. oil and natural gas industry is blasting President Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, claiming the decision would destroy jobs by raising the costs and even scuttling infrastructure projects, but the president appeared unwilling to compromise.

President Trump called on Congress Monday to pass an infrastructure bill that would generate at least $1.5 trillion in new investment over the next decade, with the federal government contributing $200 billion and a goal set to shorten the permitting process for infrastructure projects to two years or less.

After the U.S. Supreme Court late last month ruled that the nation’s district court system should decide legal challenges to an Obama-era rule over which waterbodies deserve federal protection, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers on Wednesday finalized a two-year delay for the rule to take effect.

President Trump used his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to ask Congress to pass a $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill, but he only touched on energy issues.