With the 2024 US Presidential election over, attention around the country is turning toward the future and how the newly minted President can lead the US toward evergreen success in 2025 and beyond. According to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne, the new President should work to preserve America’s energy dominance rather than risk losing it. 

America’s Energy Edge: Maintaining Global Dominance

According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. is the world’s largest oil producer, accounting for 22% of the global total. Saudi Arabia is the world’s second-largest producer, coming in at half of what the US does, with 11%. The vast majority of US crude oil is consumed within the borders of the US itself, which makes the US also the world’s largest oil consumer.

At the annual Adipec oil conference in Abu Dhabi, Pouyanne said, “US energy has been unleashed. In fact, when you look to what happened since the last two, three years, production of oil has never been so high … the revolution of US shale is really taking place.”

Roughly 64% of total US crude oil production is shale, and the CEO of the French international energy firm said the US will soon be the world’s largest producer of liquified natural gas (LNG). This process, known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking, uses vast quantities of water and can be damaging to the environment. This has paved the way for America’s shale revolution, boosting the country’s oil production from a record low of 5.1 million barrels per day in 2008 to a historic high of nearly 13 million barrels per day in 2023.

“I think that is part of political rhetoric,” Pouyanne said. “My view is that whoever the [winning] camp is energy is one of the big competitive advantages for the US, and whoever will win [will put the] US first, I would say.”

A Shifting Stance on Shale: Political Support for Fracking

Former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have long been proponents of US shale production, pushing for industry deregulation and an expansion of drilling projects, which has drawn the ire of climate activists and many on the left. However, Democratic contender and current Vice President Kamala Harris recently changed her position on fracking, expressing support for the controversial oil and gas extraction process. Harris even went so far as to promise not to ban it as president. This is especially notable, given that both she and current President Joe Biden have spent years vocally opposing this.

“Kamala Harris has declared that she’s supportive of shale oil fracking and shale gas. So I think it’s part of the game,” Pouyanne said. “Again, for me, today, the US has a clear competitive advantage on energy compared to many [in the] rest of the world. So I will be surprised to see whoever is elected to lose the competitive advantage.”

Post-election, as has long been the case, presidential candidates’ promises often become far less optimistic and far more realistic. Pouyanne pinpoints this exact trend and hopes that the promises of the electoral campaign are not forgotten once the votes are cast.

Energy as Leverage: U.S. Influence on Global Markets

Energy dominance also plays a role in US exports and geopolitical strength. The country has been able to boost oil and gas supplies to Europe as the continent cuts its Russian imports following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The US supplied almost half of Europe’s LNG imports in 2023, with most of that produced by shale drilling.

Pouyanne noted that President Joe Biden’s administration had been more restrictive on opening new acreage for drilling, “but at the same time, they approved a project from Alaska,” he said. “So, I mean, it’s more balanced than we think,” the TotalEnergies CEO added. “And my view is that again: ‘USA first,’ whoever will be president.”