Whoever wins the 2024 U.S. election should work to preserve America's energy dominance rather than risk losing it, Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne told CNBC on Monday.
The U.S. is the world's largest oil producer, accounting for 22% of the global total, according to the Energy Information Administration, with Saudi Arabia next, producing 11%. The vast majority of U.S. crude is consumed within the country, which is also the world's largest oil consumer.
"U.S. energy has been unleashed. In fact, when you look to what happened since the last two, three years, production of oil has never been so high ... [the] revolution of U.S. shale is really taking place," Pouyanne told CNBC's Dan Murphy at the annual Adipec oil conference in Abu Dhabi.
Roughly 64% of total U.S. crude oil production is shale and the French international energy firm CEO said the U.S. will also soon be No. 1 in liquified natural gas (LNG) production.
"I think that is part of political rhetoric," Pouyanne said. "My view is that whoever the [winning] camp is, in fact, energy is really one of the big competitive advantages for the U.S. and whoever will win [will put] U.S. first, I would say."
Looking ahead to the election, former President Donald Trump and the Republican party have long been proponents of U.S. shale production, pushing for deregulation of the industry and an expansion of drilling projects — drawing the ire of climate activists and many on the left.
Conoco Phillips Eagle Ford Shale Drilling Rig in Texas
Source: Conoco Phillips
But Democratic contender and Vice President Kamala Harris has now changed her position on fracking, expressing support for the controversial oil and gas extraction process and pledging not to ban it as president, despite years of vocal opposition.
Short for hydraulic fracturing, the process — which uses vast quantities of water and can be damaging to the environment — paved the way for America's shale revolution, jolting the country's oil production from a record low of 5.1 million barrels per day in 2008 to its historic high of nearly 13 million barrels per day in 2023.
"Kamala Harris has declared that she's supportive of shale oil fracking and shale gas. So I think it's part of the game," Pouyanne said. "Again, for me, today, the U.S. has a clear competitive advantage on energy compared to many [in the] rest of the world. So I will be surprised to see whoever is elected lose the competitive advantage."
Energy dominance also plays a role when it comes to U.S. exports and geopolitical strength, as the country has been able to boost oil and gas supplies to Europe as the continent cuts its Russian imports following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. supplied almost half of Europe's LNG imports in 2023, according to Cedigaz, with most of that produced by shale drilling.
Pouyanne noted that President Joe Biden's administration had been more restrictive on opening new acreage for drilling, "but at same time, they approved a project from Alaska," the Total CEO said.
"So, I mean, it's more balanced than we think," the Total CEO added. "And my view is that, again: 'USA first,' whoever will be president."
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