The Oil Industry Is Coming Back to Life

December 4, 2020

This year has been a struggle for virtually every sector, and those struggles certainly didn’t discriminate against the oil industry. But, the news of possible COVID-19 vaccines is breathing some much-needed life back into one of America’s most important industries. Oil stocks were rising throughout the month of November, and CNN reports the following:

During Wall Street’s blockbuster month of November, six of the top seven S&P 500 stocks were in the oil industry. Occidental Petroleum (OXY) spiked by a stunning 73%. Devon Energy (DVN), Apache (APA) and Diamondback Energy (FANG) climbed by more than 50% apiece. The Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) rallied 28%, the second-strongest month since the fund launched in 1998.

Much of this has to do with good news that came this month: the “blue wave” that so many pundits were convinced was inevitable never came to be. As of right now, Republicans are likely to remain in control of the Senate. And, most surprisingly, Republicans gained a significant amount of seats in the House – so many that they feel confident enough to pursue a governing majority. This will make it even harder for the left’s radical, eco-green energy agenda to pass through Congress.

Unfortunately, Biden is still likely to make some changes through executive orders. CNN reports these executive orders could include “banning new oil and gas permitting on public lands and waterways.” This will be a blow to what was a growing industry before the pandemic, but it’s still not as much damage as it would endure had Democrats taken more control of Congress.

The American people made themselves clear on Election Day: they do not want radical energy policies. Centrist Democrats clearly got the message, lashing out at their more liberal colleagues on a private conference call for pushing far-left views that cost their party valuable seats. Hopefully, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) got the message, and hopefully, she passes it along to Biden.