President Donald Trump last July promised the Polish President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw that the U.S. will help Poland to be independent of Russian energy imports. Trump as an alternative offered them U.S. fuel saying that they won’t be held hostage by a single supplier anymore.
Reuters reports that Trump was tapping into longstanding European concerns about Russia’s ability to shut off natural gas supplies – which it has done in past pricing disputes. U.S. lawmakers say Russia’s influence over energy has proven effective in silencing critics of its human rights abuses, the annexation of Crimea, and incursion into eastern Ukraine, an assertion the Kremlin has denied.
Since Trump’s visit, Poland has contracted for imports of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), crude oil, and coal.
One of the key goals of Trump’s “energy global dominance” agenda is using diverse energy exports to strengthen Washington’s geopolitical influence.
Trump is the only president in decades that inherited a booming oil and gas industry which contributed to strong U.S. dominance of the international energy markets.
The output of oil in recent years raised over 10 million barrels per day due to advances in drilling technology, this is the highest output recorded since 1970. Additionally, natural gas output has also achieved record numbers which for the first time the U.S. is not world top producer of natural gas.
According to Reuters, the 2015 repeal of a 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports – passed by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed by former President Barack Obama made a number of strategic shipments overseas possible.
Trump’s administration is confronted with difficult challenges of keeping the record high numbers left by Former President Barack Obama. Potential trade disputes, environmental regulations, and international competition are obstacles that can drastically damage U.S. exports.
It remains to be seen how successfully the administration will play its strong hand. Obstacles include environmental opposition to new pipelines and other energy projects at home, competition from other big exporters abroad, and potential trade disputes.
However, for now, the U.S. exports are stable, as new energy supply deals in the last two years were made with more than 30 countries, with most recent being Lithuania, Ukraine, China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
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