Energy-Focused Executive Orders: Impact on Upstream and Midstream Oil & Gas

The Trump Administration’s executive orders represent substantial changes to US energy policy, emphasizing deregulation and increased domestic energy production. These changes may present opportunities for upstream and midstream oil and gas companies to advance their current operations and expedite their emerging projects.

CHANGES

Expedited Permitting And Regulatory Approval

Permitting requirements and obtaining approvals increase delays, complexity, and costs for any upstream or midstream project. Indeed, the permitting process for a single oil and gas project, regardless of size, often requires contact with many executive agencies.

In January 2025, the Trump Administration released the following executive orders, which bear on permitting and regulatory approvals for upstream and midstream oil and gas companies:

Declaring a National Energy Emergency

• Directs the heads of executive departments and agencies to identify and exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to them to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources.

• Directs agencies to identify and use all relevant lawful emergency and other authorities available to them to expedite the completion of all authorized infrastructure, energy, environmental, and natural resources projects.

• Implements a 30-day deadline for the heads of all agencies to, among other things, identify planned or potential actions to facilitate the nation’s energy supply that may be subject to the regulation on consultations in emergencies promulgated pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

• Directs the secretary of the interior to convene the ESA Committee not less than quarterly to review and consider any lawful applications submitted by an agency, the governor of a state, or any applicant for a permit or license who submits for exemption from obligations imposed by Section 7 of the ESA. Further directs the secretary of the interior to ensure prompt and efficient review of all submissions so that the ESA Committee can provide an initial determination within 20 days of receipt and is able to resolve the submission within 140 days of that initial determination of eligibility.

Unleashing American Energy

• Directs the heads of all agencies to review existing agency actions to identify those that impose an undue burden on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources.

• Implements a 30-day deadline for the heads of all agencies to—in consultation with the directors of the Office of Management and Budget and the National Economic Council—develop and begin implementing as expeditiously as possible action plans to suspend, revise, or rescind all agency actions identified as unduly burdensome.

• Directs the secretaries of defense, interior, agriculture, commerce, housing and urban development, transportation, energy, and homeland security; the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and the heads of any other relevant agencies to undertake efforts to eliminate all delays within their respective permitting processes, including the use of general permitting and permit by rule. For any project an agency head deems essential for the nation’s economy or national security, agencies are directed to use all possible authorities, including emergency authorities, to expedite the adjudication of federal permits.

• Directs the director of the National Economic Council (NEC) and the director of the Office of Legislative Affairs to jointly prepare recommendations to Congress to (i) facilitate the permitting and construction of interstate energy transportation and other critical energy infrastructure, including pipelines, particularly in regions of the nation that have lacked this development in recent years, and (ii) provide greater certainty in the federal permitting process, including streamlining the judicial review of the application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

• In all federal permitting adjudications and regulatory processes, directs agencies to adhere to only the relevant legislated requirements for environmental considerations and eliminate any considerations beyond these requirements. Directs agencies to strictly use the most robust methodologies of assessment at their disposal and not use methodologies that are arbitrary or ideologically motivated.

The two executive orders above demand that agencies strive to eliminate barriers to developing energy projects, even going so far as to authorize agencies to use emergency powers to expedite the permitting and leasing processes. Further, the Trump Administration mandates that oil and gas receive “particular attention” in this pursuit.

While none of these executive orders or mandates can override enacted legislation, agencies can streamline the permitting processes within the confines of that legislation. For instance, NEPA requires federal agencies to consider the environmental impact of their actions before making decisions. Even in light of these executive orders, agencies cannot forgo NEPA review entirely, but they can potentially reduce the scope of NEPA reviews and provide more streamlined guidance to permit applicants. Given this Administration’s actions toward energy production, upstream and midstream oil and gas companies could expect shorter timelines and reduced requirements with respect to federal permitting and approvals.

Moreover, recent restrictions on agency rulemaking and legislative interpretation, when combined with these executive orders, also paint a changed picture for oil and gas companies. In June 2024, the US Supreme Court issued an opinion in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo¹ that overturned the longstanding “Chevron doctrine,” a judicial doctrine that deferred to executive agencies’ reasonable interpretations and implementations of ambiguous federal laws. Under Chevron, executive agencies were essentially allowed to “fill in the gaps” of federal legislation, which provided them with some discretion in implementing such legislation in accordance with their respective goals and expertise. Now, in light of Loper and the permit assessment mandates in the Unleashing American Energy EO, executive agencies may be more restricted by the confines of enacted legislation. To the extent that any permitting or procedural hurdles were the result of ‘gap-filling’ by executive agencies, these changes could result in upstream and midstream companies facing fewer barriers to receiving federal permits and authorizations for their projects.

Still, whether these potential gains for upstream and midstream companies will come to fruition depends on how quickly and efficaciously the federal agencies implement these executive orders. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently took a concrete step toward expediting permitting and authorization processes in a February 5, 2025 secretarial order by ordering that the DOE “prioritize more efficient permitting to enable private sector investments” and “expedite the approval and construction of reliable energy infrastructure.” Nonetheless, oil and gas companies may consider withholding judgment as to whether these executive orders will truly accelerate the pace of nascent projects until agencies have fully implemented their permitting reforms.

Reduced Regulatory Burdens

Another effect the executive orders may have on the upstream and midstream oil and gas industries is an overall decreased cost of regulatory compliance. Currently, these companies are required to ensure that all of their equipment, project sites, and operations do not violate US policy with respect to green house gas (GHG) emissions, endangered species protections, and other environmental standards.

In January 2025, the Trump Administration took aim at some of these requirements, but especially environmental requirements, imposed by federal regulations:

Declaring a National Energy Emergency

• Implements a 30-day deadline for the heads of all agencies and the secretary of the Army to, among other things, identify planned or potential actions to facilitate the nation’s energy supply that may be subject to emergency treatment under the regulations and permits promulgated pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA).

Unleashing American Energy

• Revokes Executive Order 11991 of May 24, 1977 (relating to protection and enhancement of environmental quality).

Revocation of Prior Executive Orders and Actions

• Revokes Executive Order 13990 of January 20, 2021 (Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science To Tackle the Climate Crisis).
• Revokes Executive Order 14008 of January 27, 2021 (Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad).
• Revokes Executive Order 14027 of May 7, 2021 (Establishment of the Climate Change Support Office).

Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council

• Establishes the National Energy Dominance Council  (NEDC), which is to be chaired by the Secretary of the Interior and vice-chaired by the Secretary of Energy.
• Directs the NEDC to advise the President on how to “produce more energy to make America energy dominant,” “improve the processes” for all stages of the US energy production, and develop a strategy for achieving “energy dominance” by cutting “red tape” and otherwise eliminating regulatory barriers to energy production, among other pro-domestic energy objectives.

TAKEWAYS FOR COMPANIES

Chiefly, the Trump Administration’s mandates to “facilitate the Nation’s energy supply” and to identify and eliminate “undue burdens on the identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources” are aimed at sweeping deregulation throughout the energy industry.

These mandates could see regulations in a number of areas reduced, or even eliminated. Places where upstream and midstream companies may experience lesser regulatory requirements include GHG emissions and pollution control technologies, endangered species restrictions, seismic surveys, and environmental impact assessments. Moreover, while the NEDC has not yet had an opportunity to impact US energy production, its creation solidifies the notion that the current Administration could indeed fulfill its promises of deregulating and proliferating exploration, production, storage, and transportation of domestic oil and gas.

It bears repeating that executive orders cannot repeal enacted legislation, so companies must still comply with the demands of laws such as the ESA, the CWA, NEPA, and other legislation that serves as the foundation for regulation. Executive agencies must act within the confines of the law, but upstream and midstream companies could expect that many regulations that are not codified in legislation may be repealed.

Ultimately, the Trump Administration’s executive orders in the energy space may create new opportunities for, and decrease regulatory costs faced by, upstream and midstream companies, but the regulatory landscape remains uncertain. These executive orders are subject to legal challenges from various stakeholders, and they may be enjoined or blunted by judicial order in the coming months.

A clearer picture may emerge if Congress passes legislation making statutory changes that would give firmer legal ground to these executive orders. Furthermore, oil and gas projects have long lifecycles and require intense capital investment, so upstream and midstream companies should consider the potential for future political and administrative changes that could impact the viability of their projects. 

 

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¹ Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U.S. 369 (2024).