On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden vowed to “end fossil fuels .” In office, he's been accused by Republicans of waging a war on energy. But in his first three years, oil and natural gas production have reached new peaks.
It's a fact that many in the public are not aware of, in large part because it's one that neither party is eager to tout.
Biden set aggressive climate goals at the start of his presidency, in line with his promises to climate activists. His administration has sought to curb the carbon emissions stemming from fossil fuels through a number of actions, including a temporary pause on exports of liquefied natural gas to analyze their effects on climate change, regulations to limit emissions from power plants, and rules to slash methane pollution, which leaks from natural gas pipelines and oil wells.
But despite the White House’s moves to transition the United States toward a net-zero carbon emissions economy, the oil and gas industry is producing at record levels, and oil majors are amassing large profits. According to a data analysis by Reuters, the profits of the top five publicly traded oil companies — BP, Shell, Exxon, Chevron, and TotalEnergies — totaled $410 billion during the first three years of the Biden administration, which is a 100% increase compared to the first three years of former President Donald Trump’s tenure.
Here’s a look at how fossil fuel production has fared under Biden’s first term — and how industry and environmental groups have been reacting to it.
Oil production
U.S. average daily crude oil production has surpassed prepandemic levels and notched new records under Biden, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Production hit a new peak of 13.3 million barrels a day in November 2023. The prepandemic peak under Trump was 13 million barrels a day in November 2019.
Natural gas production
Natural gas production has increased over the three years of the Biden administration. As a marker for comparison, the beginning of Trump’s second year (January 2019) saw 3.377 trillion cubic feet of natural gas gross withdrawals, compared to 3.628 trillion cubic feet in Biden’s second year (January 2022).
The increase in production can be attributed in part to the increase in demand following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which has caused European countries to rely on allies for natural gas.
LNG exports
The U.S. has become the top exporter of LNG in the entire world, according to the EIA.
LNG exports have been rising since the days of the shale boom. The U.S. became the top exporter in December 2022, eclipsing Qatar and Australia, but the effects of the Department of Energy’s pause on new approvals of exports remain to be seen.
Following the pause in January, monthly exports have fallen more than 92 billion cubic feet, bringing export levels to approximately November 2022 levels.
Oil and gas rigs
The rig count, maintained by the energy services firm Baker Hughes, is a count of active oil and gas rigs across the U.S. and can be used to track production activity.
The first two years of Biden’s presidency saw an increase in oil and gas rigs as the economy reopened from the pandemic. But the number of rigs peaked at 782 in November 2022, and it has gradually declined to 590 rigs in June 2024. This is a broader trend that can be attributed to a decline in oil and gas prices, a rise in labor and equipment costs amid rising inflation, and companies looking to prioritize profits over production expansion.
Rig counts initially rose during Trump's presidency, but began falling at the start of 2019 and then plunged during the pandemic shutdowns.
Coal production
Coal production has been in long-term decline since 2008. It fell during the Trump administration — down 30% between the first year and the fourth year.
Production rose at the start of Biden's tenure as the economy reopened, increasing by 7.8% between 2020 and 2021 and 2.8% between 2021 and 2022. But production then dropped down by 2.8% in 2023.
The industry’s view
Even with the increase in oil and gas production, industry groups have largely criticized the Biden administration’s policies, arguing that the gains made by the industry have been in spite of the regulations.
“The industry has been so efficient and so good at what they do that the oil and gas numbers have gone up,” said Dan Naatz, the chief operating officer and executive vice president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. “But we believe if they would clear these obstacles, and you would actually have an administration who is interested in increasing American energy security, it would be that much more.”
Naatz detailed the various regulations that the Biden administration has imposed on the industry, such as methane regulations and the pause on LNG exports, which he says hits smaller oil and gas companies harder than larger oil majors.
“And all of these things are designed, we believed, to just make it harder for our members, smaller producers, to get out and produce,” he said.
Environmentalists’ view
Environmentalists are not too happy with Biden’s record, either. A number of climate groups have criticized Biden actions to facilitate oil and gas production, such as his decision to approve ConocoPhillips’s Willow oil project in Alaska’s North Slope, or approving the largest oil export terminal in the U.S.
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Still, Biden has made headway with some climate groups for passing the largest climate spending measure in history, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which included hundreds of billions of incentives for clean energy. A number of environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, and the League of Conservation Voters, have credited Biden with over 300 actions benefiting the cause.
In more recent days, though, the climate groups Sunrise Movement and Climate Defiance have called for the president to step aside from the race, raising fears about his ability to win in November following a set of notable fumbles during a presidential debate with Trump and in other public appearances.
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