Oh No, Anyway: Energy Secretary's Old Oil Company Warns Of "Storm Clouds" As Profits And Stock Price Collapse

[hatrack]

The oil company founded by Energy Secretary Chris Wright reported falling profits Thursday, warning investors that the oil industry faces “storm clouds on the horizon” amid President Donald Trump’s tariff blitz. Liberty Energy is a barometer of the health of America’s oil patch. The Denver-based company provides fracking services to oil and gas companies, and it is of growing importance today — as the company was founded by Wright and is one of the first oil firms to report its first quarter earnings amid the president’s push to impose tariffs on a broad-range of imported goods.

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Liberty executives sought to put a good face on the moment. They noted the oil and gas industry is a cyclical business and that drillers are in better shape to withstand a downturn than in previous years. They predicted drilling activity would pick up in the second quarter, as winter turned to spring. And they expressed hope that Trump’s decision to pause a wide range of tariffs had relieved pressure on the global economy.

But the tone was a far cry from the “golden era of American energy dominance” that Wright promised shortly after becoming Energy secretary earlier this year. Liberty’s quarterly profit of $165 million represented its worst quarter since the first three months of 2022 and was down from almost $239 million in the same quarter last year. Liberty’s stock has fallen around 40 percent since the start of year. Company executives conceded a slowdown in the oil patch could occur if oil prices continued to slide. West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark for American crude, has lost more than 20 percent from its high of around $80 a barrel in early January.

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The oil and gas industry threw its weight behind Trump’s reelection campaign last year and many in the industry were thrilled when the president selected Wright to lead DOE. In his first secretarial order, Wright promised to unleash a “golden age” for energy development, rolling back regulations, boosting LNG exports, focusing on research and development and refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Discontent with Trump has been rising in the oil patch. In a quarterly survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, oil and gas executives expressed dismay with the president’s tariff onslaught, saying it threatened to raise costs while putting a damper on economic growth needed to support oil demand.

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https://www.eenews.net/articles/chris-wright-promised-a-golden-age-for-oil-his-old-company-is-bracing-for-a-storm/

[Vogon_Glory]

1. Lesson for today, kiddies. Oil companies aren't. Fond of "drll

Baby, drill!” When oil prices are falling and a possible recession (or worse) threatens to reduce demand for petroleum products even further. You don’t have to be a geriatric Baby-Boomer to remember the dire effects of the last big oil bust in (mostly red-state) oil-drilling areas. The way things could go, those bad old days could come back.