Industry insiders say GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump may face a learning curve on energy issues. Photo by Aude Guerrucci/UPI |
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HOUSTON, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Despite getting public support from one of the biggest names in oil, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has work to do, reports found.
At a keynote address at a North Dakota energy conference this year, Trump said the United States would become "totally independent" from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in part by removing obstacles standing in the way of further exploration. Speaking at the nominating convention in July, Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm said total U.S. crude oil production would double under a Trump presidency.
Comments from Trump, published by energy news service Argus, show the candidate may be flexible at the local level when it comes to potential state or municipal restrictions on hydraulic fracturing, the drilling practice in part behind the increase in U.S. crude oil production. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is on record saying she'd back tighter regulations on the drilling practice known as fracking.
Republican donor Charles Koch, the CEO at Koch Industries, was cited by Argus as saying he won't support Trump, and Scott Sheffield, the CEO at Pioneer Natural Resources, has said he wished there "were better candidates" in the race.
"Quite honestly, candidate Trump has work to do to better understand our industry," an unnamed oil official was quoted by Argus as saying.
A survey published last month by the American Petroleum Institute, which hasn't publicly backed a candidate for U.S. president, found that most would-be voters back a strong U.S. energy sector, but the issue is clearly a priority for those identifying themselves as Republicans.
API data show 86 percent of voters likely to side with the Republican Party back a presidential candidate who would support an increase oil and gas production, against 57 percent for those describing themselves as Democrats.
Commenting on Trump's speech in North Dakota, Michael Brune, the executive director of the Sierra Club, mirrored sentiments from the insiders referenced by Argus.
"There are open pools of oil and drilling wastewater in North Dakota right now that are deeper than Trump's understanding of energy issues," he said in a statement.
