America Needs the Oil and Gas Industry to Survive This Crisis

May 7, 2020

The American energy sector has always been a crucial component of the country’s success both domestically and abroad. After years of attacks from radical environmentalists, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic and recent price war between OPEC and Russia, the oil industry’s position has become precarious. 

The significant growth and stability of recent years seem like a distant memory as the US price per barrel of oil has dropped from $60 in January, to currently around single digits. During this economic downtime, improvements to transportation and processing infrastructure should be considered to shore up the industry’s future. This way, companies can be better prepared to renew operations once demand and prices recover.

Before this crisis, the U.S. was the leading oil-producing nation, with a daily output of 12.5 million barrels. The booming industry also provided millions of jobs for Americans across the country.

“According to the American Petroleum Institute, at the end of 2019 the oil and gas industry was supporting nearly 10 million jobs nationwide and was also adding workers faster than any other non-service sector of the economy.”

However, the importance of the oil and gas industry goes far beyond creating jobs and exporting fuel. The energy security it provides has become a prerequisite for the operation of other private, political, or professional functions around the country.

“As the United States has become energy dominant, thanks mainly to the shale revolution, we’ve altered the geopolitical landscape and no longer have to worry about supply disruptions from the Middle East or elsewhere, a reality that has vastly enhanced our economic and strategic security. So pursuing policies that can keep our domestic industry viable is paramount.”

Solidifying our energy independence will benefit the energy sector and allow other industries to flourish once the current situation stabilizes. Unfortunately for the eco-left and their coastal elite funders, the COVID crisis will not be a final nail in the coffin of fossil fuels.

The global economy and population will recover, the demand for oil will return, and radical reformers will continue to reject basic reason. This should come as a relief to the radical environmentalists who tangentially depend on the industry they have sworn to dismantle. If nothing else, this crisis has exposed environmentalists as anti-American mercenaries hellbent on the destruction of energy independence.