President Trump demands 1 billion dollars from the oil industry and promises to abolish Mr. Biden's energy policy

The Washington Post reported this week that former President Trump requested donations of 1 billion dollars for presidential election campaigns from oil and gas industry executives, and promised that if elected president in November, he would withdraw dozens of environmental regulations enforced by the Biden administration.

President Trump sold to executives at a meeting held in Mar-a-Lago, Florida last month, and representatives of venture global CEO Mike Sabell, Chenier Energy (LNG) CEO Jack Fusco, and representatives of Chevron (CVX), Continental Resources, ExxonMobil (XOM), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY) were also included among them.

In particular, President Trump stated that he would stop temporarily suspending new export approvals for liquefied natural gas by the Biden administration, abolish automobile exhaust regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency that promote electric vehicles, auction further lease rights for Gulf of Mexico drilling, and withdraw drilling restrictions in the Alaska Arctic.

Despite major oil companies' aversion to Mr. Biden, fossil fuel production and oil industry profits soared to record highs during Biden's presidency. Whereas the average profit margin of the four-year energy sector under the Biden administration is expected to be about 11%, the average profit margin for the energy sector during the Trump administration for 3 years excluding 2020, when the novel coronavirus infection ended, was 4.5%.

Separately, and somewhat related, 27 Republican-led states filed lawsuits in the Washington DC Circuit Court of Appeals this week challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's new rules on power plant emissions.