Energy executives meeting in Houston expressed concerns about President Trump’s trade and economic policy even as they praised him and his administration.
Tariff threats. Growing uncertainty about the economy. And a push for much lower oil prices.
For all of their bravado about U.S. energy dominance and enthusiasm for deregulation, American energy executives are beginning to worry about President Trump’s agenda.
Their concerns crept into conversations in hotel meeting rooms and over private meals this week in Houston, where industry magnates gathered for their most important annual conference.
Surely, some hoped, the president would cut oil and gas companies a break on tariffs. Surely, the administration was not serious about pushing oil prices down another 25 percent. Surely, the turmoil of the last two months would soon pass.
And just as soon as those glimmers of frustration or doubt slipped out, they were gone, overshadowed by praise for Mr. Trump, his cabinet and the administration’s aim to unshackle American energy companies — at least the ones in the business of producing oil, natural gas and nuclear power.
Such is the energy industry’s delicate dance these days. Companies are trying to balance fighting for their interests, which often include free trade, with a strong desire not to offend the president. The oil and gas industry spent more than $75 million to elect Mr. Trump.
“We’re hopeful that as we continue these conversations on trade, that the energy dominance agenda becomes more important than the tariff agenda,” Mike Sommers, chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute, the oil and gas industry’s main trade group, said in an interview at the conference, CERAWeek by S&P Global.