Industry optimistic on Trump: Survey

A majority of energy contractors surveyed by recruitment company NES Global Talent expressed optimism about the promised deregulation drive of US President-elect Donald Trump, who nevertheless softened his stance on climate change on Tuesday.

Some 78% of US contractors polled said they expected Trump’s presidency to create more jobs in the energy industry, compared to 63% of international respondents who said it would be positive for the industry. Over 300 energy contractors worldwide were polled for the survey.

Though Trump on Monday repeated his promise to “cancel job-killing restrictions on the production of American energy, including shale energy and clean coal, creating many millions of high-paying jobs,” in a Tuesday interview with the New York Times he appeared to go back on earlier pledges to withdraw from last year’s Paris Climate Agreement.

“I have an open mind to it,” Trump said, adding that he saw “some connectivity” between human activity and climate change. Previously, he has described climate change as a “hoax.”

This change of rhetoric adds to many unanswered questions about his energy strategy.

The climate change and regulations debate comes at a time of acute pain for the industry, especially in the US, where more than 200 energy companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since early 2015, Reuters reported. Some have even been forced to file twice – restructuring experts call them “Chapter 22” companies.

In other developments in the US, the latest data released by the Department of Labour and Industry showed that Pennsylvania lost about a third of its oil and gas workforce early this year. The state is home to the Marcellus Shale, the largest natural gas formation in the US.