Whoever wins the 2024 U.S. predetermination should enactment to sphere America's vigor dominance alternatively than hazard losing it, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne told CNBC connected Monday.
The U.S. is the world's largest lipid producer, accounting for 22% of the planetary total, according to the Energy Information Administration, with Saudi Arabia next, producing 11%. The immense bulk of U.S. crude is consumed wrong the country, which is besides the world's largest lipid consumer.
"U.S. vigor has been unleashed. In fact, erstwhile you look to what happened since the past two, 3 years, accumulation of lipid has ne'er been truthful precocious ... [the] gyration of U.S. shale is truly taking place," Pouyanne told CNBC's Dan Murphy astatine the yearly Adipec lipid league successful Abu Dhabi.
Roughly 64% of full U.S. crude lipid accumulation is shale and the French planetary vigor steadfast CEO said the U.S. volition besides soon beryllium No. 1 successful liquified earthy state (LNG) production.
"I deliberation that is portion of governmental rhetoric," Pouyanne said. "My presumption is that whoever the [winning] campy is, successful fact, vigor is truly 1 of the large competitory advantages for the U.S. and whoever volition triumph [will put] U.S. first, I would say."
Looking up to the election, erstwhile President Donald Trump and the Republican enactment person agelong been proponents of U.S. shale production, pushing for deregulation of the manufacture and an enlargement of drilling projects — drafting the ire of clime activists and galore connected the left.
Conoco Phillips Eagle Ford Shale Drilling Rig successful Texas
Source: Conoco Phillips
But Democratic contender and Vice President Kamala Harris has present changed her presumption connected fracking, expressing enactment for the arguable lipid and state extraction process and pledging not to prohibition it arsenic president, contempt years of vocal opposition.
Short for hydraulic fracturing, the process — which uses immense quantities of h2o and tin beryllium damaging to the environment — paved the mode for America's shale revolution, jolting the country's lipid accumulation from a grounds debased of 5.1 cardinal barrels per time successful 2008 to its historical precocious of astir 13 cardinal barrels per time successful 2023.
"Kamala Harris has declared that she's supportive of shale lipid fracking and shale gas. So I deliberation it's portion of the game," Pouyanne said. "Again, for me, today, the U.S. has a wide competitory vantage connected vigor compared to galore [in the] remainder of the world. So I volition beryllium amazed to spot whoever is elected suffer the competitory advantage."
Energy dominance besides plays a relation erstwhile it comes to U.S. exports and geopolitical strength, arsenic the state has been capable to boost lipid and state supplies to Europe arsenic the continent cuts its Russian imports pursuing Moscow's penetration of Ukraine. The U.S. supplied astir fractional of Europe's LNG imports successful 2023, according to Cedigaz, with astir of that produced by shale drilling.
Pouyanne noted that President Joe Biden's medication had been much restrictive connected opening caller acreage for drilling, "but astatine aforesaid time, they approved a task from Alaska," helium said.
"So, I mean, it's much balanced than we think," the TotalEnergies CEO added. "And my presumption is that, again: 'USA first,' whoever volition beryllium president."
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