From the very beginning of the meeting on Monday, US officials repeatedly emphasized the meeting’s slogan “Unleash the full potential of American energy.”
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Members of US President Donald Trump’s administration claim that his policy is the opposite of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden’s policy, and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin, accused J. Biden of “climate panic-mongering,” promoting renewable energy.
“The main idea was to produce enough energy to ensure the country’s welfare, but also to be able to provide safe, affordable, and reliable energy to all our allies,” said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
To meet the growing electricity demand driven by the artificial intelligence industry’s needs, the EPA announced reductions in pollution limits for gas and coal-fired power plants, which sparked outrage among environmentalists.
A big shock
Last year, returning to the White House, D. Trump promised to increase US oil production volumes. This was hastened by the war started by the US and Israel with Iran at the end of February. However, this week in Houston, where ministers of the largest economies – China, India, Japan, Germany, and others – meet with major oil powers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Canada, statements about the war in the Middle East were rare.
However, industry representatives’ concern is undeniable and growing. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran sharply raised oil prices, and new campaigns by pro-Iranian Houthi rebels to control the Bab el-Mandeb Strait have begun to affect Saudi Arabia’s oil transportation.
“President D. Trump wants the whole world not to focus on a region where… unrest prevails,” said D. Burgum, adding that the region has fallen into a “cycle of unrest.”
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Officials of the D. Trump administration say the solution is domestic production.
“The cheapest energy in the world is in the United States. The safest energy is in the United States,” said D. Burgum.
White House energy advisor Jarrod Agen said one of the main goals of the D. Trump administration is “to turn the Western Hemisphere into a center of affordable, reliable, and safe energy. So from Alaska to Argentina, you see rapid growth, rapid development, rapid deals, and we are focusing on that.”
Winter in Europe
The US relies on one major advantage – Venezuela. Since D. Trump sent commando squads to arrest President Nicolas Maduro, the new interim leader of the country has become an ally of Washington, which intends to take advantage of this South American country’s huge oil resources.
Under an agreement made this summer, the US will control about one-fifth of Venezuela’s oil reserves – the largest in the world. However, the country’s infrastructure has suffered from decades of underinvestment, so increasing production volumes will take time.
Venezuela “is not a short-term solution, although in the long term it will probably increase oil supply,” said Kenneth Medlock III, a research fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute in Houston.
“The G20 cannot do much to ensure supply and demand balance, except diplomatic efforts to resolve problems in the Middle East and in Russia-Ukraine relations,” he said, warning that given supply constraints, the coming winter in Europe “could be particularly harsh.”
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