Trump Executive Orders 2025: Energy Stock Winners and Losers
This week President Donald Trump inked a flurry of executive orders aimed at bolstering the United States' oil and gas industry. The moves were aimed at reversing the nation's energy policy from what was envisioned by former President Joe Biden and will create winners and losers among companies operating in the energy landscape.
Drilling down to specific energy-related executive orders that will affect publicly traded companies in the sector, Trump rescinded a goal for half of U.S. auto sales to be electric vehicles by 2030, and he ordered an end to EV subsidies.
He reversed a Biden-era moratorium on approvals for new liquefied natural gas export projects. Several companies had preliminary deals to export LNG to countries that are not part of free trade agreements with the U.S. and had yet to build their plants.
Trump also issued his own moratorium – this one on offshore wind development. He halted work on a wind energy project in Idaho.
He declared a national energy emergency, aiming to expedite energy permitting and infrastructure after a study period. He also ordered the halt of certain funds related to the Inflation Reduction Act, Biden's signature climate law aimed at boosting America's contribution to the energy transition.
Trump also ordered support for pipeline and export infrastructure related to an Alaska liquefied natural gas project and a reinstatement of federal approval for the Ambler Road access project, which will facilitate an Alaskan mining district rich in copper. Additionally, Trump ordered the support of domestic production and processing of rare earth minerals.
Here's what you should know about the particular industries and companies that could be affected by Trump's policies:
- Market forces at work.
- Momentum of the energy transition.
- Winners from Trump's executive orders.
- Losers from Trump's executive orders.
Market Forces at Wor
Before we get into specific companies that will benefit or be hurt by Trump's pen, it should be noted that market forces will dictate their effects to a certain extent.
For one thing, investors have for years been urging oil and gas companies to use restraint in their exploration for and production of more hydrocarbons and instead prioritize returning money to investors through share buybacks and dividends. That serves as a check against oil and gas companies' penchant for ramping up production too much during boom times and then suffering the consequences when oil and gas prices pull back.
"How the oil and gas sector balances a more permissive policy environment with its commitments to capital returns, which have been a dominant thread in the shale patch for the past several years, will bear significantly on the pathway to energy dominance," according to the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.
Turning to LNG exports, Europe and Asia are the primary markets for U.S. exports of the super-chilled fuel, and there's only so much that can go around until new facilities come online. Exports were already expected to increase even before Trump took office because of the companies that had already been granted construction and export permits.
Plants to chill natural gas into liquid form and load it onto specialized ships are expensive, require significant financing and take a long time to build.
"The LNG industry and its investors are enthused by the directive to resume the permitting process for new LNG facilities, but because of the time lag in permitting and construction, markets won't feel the impact for several years," the Atlantic Council said.
Additionally, while Trump has broad authority over federal land, most oil and gas drilling happens on private or state lands that his executive orders don't affect.
