In 2020, total consumption of fossil fuels in the United States including petroleum, natural gas, and coal, fell to 72.9 quadrillion British thermal units, down 9% from 2019 and the lowest level since 1991. Last year marked the largest annual decrease in U.S. fossil fuel consumption in both absolute and percentage terms since at least 1949, the earliest year records have been kept. Economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, including a 15% decrease in energy consumption in the U.S. transportation sector, drove much of the decline. But, with record declines in U.S. crude oil inventories falling by 6.9 million barrels and total motor gasoline inventories decreasing by 6.1 million barrels from the previous week, it appears this trend may be reversing.

It was a phenomenal week in the oil and gas industry with prices hitting a three-year high, rig counts soaring, and exploration expanding. Fuelled by an accelerated uptick in crude oil demand as the world sets sights on a return to pre-crisis times, oil and gas companies are set for record-breaking free cash flows this summer.

It was a phenomenal week in the oil and gas industry with prices hitting a three-year high, rig counts soaring, and exploration expanding. Fuelled by an accelerated uptick in crude oil demand as the world sets sights on a return to pre-crisis times, oil and gas companies are set for record-breaking free cash flows this summer.

Judge Terry A. Doughty, a federal judge in Louisiana, issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden Administration from pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land. The action comes after the administration suspended federal leasing activities in January to review the program’s environmental costs, a move widely seen as Biden’s first step to delivering on climate change campaign promises. But Doughty said the administration does not have the legal right to stop leasing federal territory for oil and gas production without approval from Congress, arguing the suspension was against the law and would cause economic damage and kill jobs. While U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said her department was reviewing the decision, tensions are beginning to rise with the summer heat.