Texas Oil Firms See Biden Presidency As The Biggest Threat To Growth

Texas oil and gas executives have a lot on their minds right now, but their worst fear for the next twelve months is neither the recession nor the pandemic—it’s the possibility that President Biden will win the White House.

According to a recent survey of the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs among members of the Texas Oil and Gas Association (TXOGA), 76 percent of oil and gas executives in Texas say that the election of Joe Biden is the top threat to the economic well-being of their companies.

A total of 51 percent of executives responded that a president Biden would pose “a great deal” of concern about their firms, while another 25 percent said that Biden’s possible election would represent “a good deal” of concern, according to the survey carried out with TXOGA’s assistance last month.

The next top concerns for Texas oil and gas executives are much more to do with oil fundamentals—75 percent put oversupply of oil and natural gas at the top of their concerns, and another 73 percent fear lingering weak oil demand the most. The fourth biggest fear of the oil industry in Texas is the prospect of a global or U.S. recession, with 68 percent of executives saying recession is “a great deal” and “a good deal” of concern about their companies.Related: Hydrogen Fuel Economy Is Finally Going Mainstream

While Democratic presidential candidate Biden doesn’t share the most radical positions on oil and gas of his former opponents in the Democratic Party Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders – who want fracking banned—Biden has said that if elected, he would rescind authorizations for the Keystone XL oil pipeline project that was killed by President Obama and later resurrected by President Trump.

According to the University of Houston’s survey of Texas oil and gas executives, a re-election of President Trump in November is the weakest threat to their companies’ growth, with just 11 percent saying that President Trump’s re-election could be “a great deal” or a “good deal” of concern.

As far as the price of oil is concerned, 98 percent of the Texas executives expect WTI Crude to trade higher in May 2021 than it did in May 2020, when the highest WTI Crude price was $34 a barrel.