Trump's offshore oil ambitions sinking
A clumsy roll-out has imperiled a plan to open nearly all of America's waters to drilling
"After talking with @FLGovScott, I am removing #Florida from the draft offshore plan," the US interior secretary Ryan Zinke tweeted on 9 January. It's a tweet he and the Trump administration could come to regret. The announcement came after a meeting with Florida's Republican governor Rick Scott in which the latter had lobbied Zinke to remove the state from a recently released draft proposal that would open waters off nearly every inch of America's coastlines to oil and gas drilling. Zinke's quick acquiescence to Scott's request raised protests from nearly every corner. Democrats saw a cheap political stunt. The prospect of offshore drilling is deeply unpopular in Florida, where coastal comm
Also in this section
7 August 2025
The quick, unified and decisive strategy to return all the barrels from the hefty tranche of cuts from the eight producers involved in voluntary curbs signals a shift and sets the tone for the path ahead
7 August 2025
Without US backing, the EU’s newest sanctions package against Russia—though not painless—is unlikely to have a significant impact on the country’s oil and gas revenues or its broader economy
6 August 2025
Diesel market disruptions have propelled crude prices above $100/bl twice in this century, and now oil teeters on the brink of another crude quality crisis
5 August 2025
After failed attempts to find a buyer for its stake in Russia’s largest oil producer, BP may be able to avoid the harsh treatment meted out to ExxonMobil and Shell when they exited—and could even restart operations if geopolitical conditions improve
