Trump’s promise to ‘drill, baby, drill’ probably won’t change much

by Carlos Nogueras Ramos for Texas Tribune

Former President Donald Trump has vowed to “drill, baby, drill” on Day One of his next administration. He wants, as his website says, for the U.S. to be “the dominant energy producer in the world, by far!”

It already is — thanks to Texas.

Earlier this year, the Texas Oil & Gas Association, the state’s leading industry group, reported that Texas supplied 42% of the nation’s oil in 2023. Texas broke records last year when operators drilled nearly 2 billion barrels of oil and 12 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

And it was a banner year for oil and gas across the U.S., which produced 12.9 million barrels of oil per day. The previous record was 12.3 million barrels of oil per day in 2019. Already, the federal Energy Information Administration is projecting companies will produce on average 13.2 million barrels per day this year and 13.7 million barrels per day in 2025.