Death march for US shale?
The incoming Biden administration has ambitious plans for low-carbon energy but must negotiate the Senate first
President-elect Joe Biden’s defeat of Donald Trump in the 2020 election is unwelcome news for the fracking industry. The only question that remains unanswered is how unwelcome that news will be. The Democratic Party’s relative lack of success in the Congressional elections was a silver lining for the shale industry, however. The Democrats had expected to increase their majority in the House of Representatives, but instead their number of seats fell from 233 out of 435 to 222 or 223 (depending on the outcome of a recount). This is just a few seats above the 218 needed for a bare majority. In the Senate, Republicans hold a 50 to 48 majority (down from 53 to 47). The two races in Georgia are t
Also in this section
14 April 2026
The GECF has warned it may revise its projections for demand this year downwards in light of conflict in the Middle East, although it maintains its forecasts for 2027 and onwards
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy






