Oil and gas executives will meet with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday as they seek to influence him on tariffs, tax credits and deregulation.
Some executives in the industry, which spent more than $75 million to help elect Mr. Trump, are increasingly frustrated with Mr. Trump’s agenda. Tariffs are making essential materials like steel pipe more expensive while also rattling consumer confidence.
Oil prices have fallen around 14 percent since just before Mr. Trump took office, to less than $67 a barrel. Peter Navarro, a senior White House aide, has talked about the benefits of oil that sells for just $50 a barrel. At such prices, companies operating in wide swaths of the American oil patch would lose money drilling new wells.
Here are some of the industry’s priorities:
Tariffs
U.S. refineries buy oil from Canada and Mexico, transform it into fuels like gasoline, then export those more valuable products. These trade ties were formed over decades and would be difficult and expensive to untangle.
Mr. Trump announced 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico with a lower, 10 percent rate for Canadian energy products. But this month he delayed the implementation of those tariffs on most goods, including energy imported under a North American trade agreement Mr. Trump negotiated during his first term. That reprieve is set to end in early April.
The 25 percent tariff on imported steel that took effect earlier this month is also a big concern for executives. The metal is used in everything from pipelines to wells, and it is getting more expensive because of the tariff. Some executives remain hopeful that they will able to secure exemptions, though Mr. Trump has rebuffed that idea.