Louisiana's Oil & Gas Industry Celebrates Donald Trump’s Election Victory

Louisiana’s oil and gas industry is hailing the reelection of Donald Trump as President of the United States. Mike Moncla, the president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, says it will be good to have a President who will ease up on regulations, since according to him, the Biden administration was not friendly to the industry.
As Andrew Greenstein with the Louisiana Radio Network (LRN) reports,
As Moncla explains, “The last president really had his throat on the industry from day one, the Keystone cancellation of that pipeline being built. Fast-forward a few years, for the first time in 42 years we had a lapse in the five year off-shore leasing plan.”
Moncla says the Biden Administration's other policies, including the pause on liquefied natural gas, stifled business in the state. “The policies that they’ve instilled in all of our banks and companies like Blackstone, who refuse to invest in oil and gas, it stifles investment in our state, when we’re a state that is dependent upon oil and gas production for a large portion of our state’s GDP.”

Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (DENR)

Moncla says the election of Trump marks a new day for Louisiana’s oil and gas industry. “Anytime you have a president that is promoting industry, stripping away regulation and making it easier, it’s much, much better for us.”
For some context on the importance of Louisiana’s oil and gas industry, consider that it accounts for 20% of the nation’s refining capacity, 45,000 direct jobs in the state, 260,000 jobs in related industries, $1,000,000,000 in state and local taxes, and accounts for 6% of Louisiana’s GDP. That’s according to the Louisiana Economic Development (LED) agency.