CERAWEEK HIGHLIGHTS: Trump policies reshaping US energy trade, project outlooks

The Trump administration's approach to trade, permitting, and clean energy funding is already reshaping the US energy sector, executives said March 12 at the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston.

Highlights of coverage by Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights:

Federal funding limbo

A pause on disbursement of funds from the US Inflation Reduction Act has put two Mitsubishi Power Americas clean hydrogen projects in limbo, CEO Bill Newsom said in an interview. Before the Trump administration halted the funding, the plants were set to be part of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub and the Gulf Coast-based HyVelocity Hub.

"I was on Capitol Hill a few weeks ago asking about these same exact questions to some congressmen and women, and they all didn't know exactly what was going to happen," Newsom told Platts in an interview.

Trading allies

Despite rising trade tensions, crude exports out of the US Gulf Coast will likely receive a boost due to changing trade relations that Washington is fostering with global partners, in line with the administration's energy dominance target, a senior Enbridge official said March 11.

"North America is long on products, and an export strategy tied to your allies and trade partners makes a lot of sense on the oil, gas, and also NGL side," said Colin Gruending, Enbridge president of liquids pipelines.

Permitting delays

Permitting difficulties are more prohibitive than a potential increase in steel costs from tariffs, said Alan Armstrong, CEO of US midstream company Williams.

Armstrong said Williams could return to the shelved Constitution natural gas pipeline if it has the support of all the relevant state governors. US President Donald Trump on Feb. 14 voiced his desire to revive the project, which Williams and partners Duke Energy, AltaGas and the former Cabot Oil & Gas shelved in 2020.

Speed of executive action

Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute, underscored the importance of permitting reform but expressed skepticism about its prospects in Congress. Policy in 2025 is going to get done by executive order or by the agencies -- or through the reconciliation process in Congress, which is inherently partisan, he said.

"By the time they get around to permitting reform, there's going to be a lot of scar tissue that's been built up," Sommers said. "I think the best permitting reform that we're going to get is actually from the regulatory agencies in the short term."

Tariff uncertainties

A growing domestic solar manufacturing base contributed to the sharp growth in solar capacity in 2024, but uncertainties challenge that momentum.

Stacy Ettinger, SEIA senior vice president of supply chain and trade, said her organization helps members cope with uncertainties including the Trump administration's tariffs and whether clean energy tax incentives will continue.

"In terms of trade actions, they're complicated," Ettinger said. "The ground shifts sometimes on a minute-by-minute basis, and the devil is in the details."