Oil and gas chiefs may have quietly smiled when Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election. Oil billionaire Harold Hamm, founder Continental Resources, I called him “It’s the most important election of our lifetime,” he said, while making appeals to energy executives urging them to donate to Trump’s campaign. Vicki Hollub, then-CEO Western Oil, also called Trump’s victory is “very positive” for the oil and gas industry. And Trump similarly backed the industry during the campaign, promising environmental returns and loose tax structures.
But the special relationship between the president and the country’s fossil fuel industry has been frosty lately. After months of rising gas prices and concerns about inflation and affordability, Trump has begun pointing fingers at some of his closest industry supporters who courted him several years ago. Writing in a Social of Truth to post On Wednesday morning, Trump appeared to blame the industry for the high gas prices Americans are feeling at the pump.
“Major Oil Companies are not reducing pump prices in proportion to the sharply declining prices they pay for Oil,” he wrote. “In other words, customers are being ‘gouged,'” he continued, adding that he had instructed the Justice Department to investigate the matter but did not provide any details about the timeline.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump openly accused StripExxonMobil, blood pressureAnd Shell Although oil prices have fallen in recent weeks, there has been no reduction in gasoline prices. Cheaper oil generally means lower prices at the pump, but this process can take weeks or even months given the various additional costs involved in determining the final price consumers pay.
For months, the economy has been grappling with sticky gasoline prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East and the resulting energy shock. As the market values of the six largest oil and gas companies rose rapidly, this benefited energy companies for a while 130 billion dollars in the first two weeks According to him, only war Guard. Now that midterm elections are approaching, high gas prices risk becoming a political obstacle for the Republican Party, which has majorities to maintain in both houses of Congress. According to the report, in the first month of the war alone, Americans paid $8.4 billion more in gas costs. research He is from the Democratic minority of the Joint Economic Committee.
Prices have fallen very little since then, and Trump is starting to point his fingers. His latest target: the oil and gas industry, which helped him return to office less than two years ago. Trump accused major oil and gas companies of artificially inflating their prices as a result of the war.
In a statement LuckA Justice Department spokesman did not comment on the proposed investigations but said rising gasoline costs — averaging $3.91 per gallon, up from $3.22 a year ago — were a challenge for the administration.
“The price of gas is not only a national security issue, it also affects every American’s wallet. We are committed to ensuring affordability in this country at all times,” the spokesman said.
A White House spokesman similarly did not comment directly on the potential investigation, but reiterated the administration’s position that oil and gas prices would drop “as soon as the situation in Iran is resolved.”
“President Trump has a proven track record of driving gas prices to historic lows, and the administration remains laser-focused on providing economic relief to the American people,” the spokesperson said.
Luck He contacted representatives of each of the energy companies Trump named. A Shell spokesman declined to comment. On Thursday, Eimear Bonner, Chevron’s chief financial officer, he told CNBC Oil and gas firms have been “doing everything they can” to lower gas prices, but any significant change is unlikely to happen immediately.
“This will take time,” Bonner said. “You know, there’s a lag between oil prices and drops in oil prices and that reflecting at the pump, but as things continue to normalize, we expect prices to drop as well.”
Dispute with Big Oil
This is a sharp reversal from the way Trump has been closely involved with the industry ahead of the 2024 election. During his campaign, Trump advocated sweeping rollbacks of Biden’s green energy agenda and advocated repealing many anti-pollution regulations. At a private campaign event in April, the then-candidate demanded: $1 billion donation Trump reportedly called the sum from oil executives a “deal” to help him return to the White House, given the tax and regulatory breaks energy companies would enjoy if he regained the presidency. Representatives from Chevron, Continental Resources, ExxonMobiland Occidental Petroleum were present at the event, according to Washington Post.
Trump may have fallen short of that lofty goal, but he still amassed a respectable war chest. Between January 2023 and November 2024, oil companies such as Continental and Occidental poured $96 million directly into Trump’s reelection campaign. 2025 report From Climate Power, an advocacy group. The biggest oil majors donate primarily through corporate PACs, but they also benefited Republicans in the last election cycle. For example, Chevron was donated about 10 million dollars In the 2024 election, almost all of it went to conservative organizations or affiliates, according to OpenSecrets.
Taking into account advertising spending, non-Republican voter donations and congressional lobbying, major oil and gas companies invested $445 million in the 2024 election cycle, according to the Climate Power report.
This bet worked out well for fossil fuel companies. While Trump’s deregulation campaign has inflated margins for energy firms, the industry has also benefited from sweeping tax cuts included in Trump’s signature Big Good Bill legislative package passed last year. In addition to rolling back clean energy subsidies, the bill also led to nearly $18 billion in tax cuts designed specifically to benefit oil and gas companies, according to one report. report By the Joint Committee on Taxation.
The conflict in the Middle East has also been a boon to energy interests. When the United States and Israel first began their coordinated attacks on Iran in February, the Revolutionary Guard quickly responded by threatening most oil and gas tankers that dared to cross the critical Strait of Hormuz, causing energy prices to soar.
Trump’s impossible election
But while periods of high oil prices are good for suppliers, they are painful for ordinary consumers. National gas prices have hovered around $4 per gallon for months, and Americans have had to make do. adjust your habits Accordingly, we often drive less or budget tighter. A Gallup questionnaire The report, released Thursday, found that two-thirds of Americans surveyed earlier this month said their households were experiencing financial hardship due to fuel costs.
High prices at the pump threaten to become political spoilers as Republicans hope to maintain slim majorities in both houses of Congress later this year. Incumbent parties tend to be more vulnerable in midterm elections, which is a risk magnified due to high gasoline prices. Trump campaigned heavily on the energy front. declare at a rally in Pennsylvania this week: “Oil will go down. With oil will come everything else.”
Oil prices have fallen significantly since their peak in April, with Brent crude, the global pricing benchmark, recently returning to pre-war levels. It may take longer for gas prices to return to normal. While crude oil is a globally traded commodity, there is a long list of factors that affect the price drivers will ultimately pay at the pump, including supply chain delays, refinery costs and local inventory levels. The price of gasoline paid on any given day generally depends on the crude oil purchased. six weeks agoif not longer.
Even the American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s main trade association, echoed the disconnect between crude oil and regular gas costs: “Gasoline prices are not moving in lockstep with crude oil, especially during a major global disruption that is still impacting supply, refining and inventories,” said Bethany Williams, a spokeswoman for the organization. Luck.
“Our industry shares the goal of providing relief at the pump and restoring stability to global energy markets,” he said. “Our focus remains on supporting market stability and delivering the energy consumers need.”
Trump hopes gas prices can return to normal well before the election, but whether or not oil and gas giants take advantage of drivers, the economics of gas pricing could work against the Republican Party in the interim.
This story first appeared on: Fortune.com
