The top oil producers in the US shale fields are running helter-skelter for fetching drilling permits on federal land on the verge of presidential elections due this November. They are concerned that if Joe Biden comes to power, he will clampdown activities in oilfields.
In the past three months, the federal permitting in the Permian Basin (largest in the US) has surged to 80 per cent. It is located in New Mexico and Texas. Analysts are calling it a hedge if Biden comes to power.
Meanwhile, presidential candidate Biden has stated that he won’t ban fracking outright. On the other side, his climate plans include clamping down gas and new oil permits on public lands.
Interestingly, the revolution of the shale put the output of the US crude to twelve million barrels per day the previous year through fracking or hydraulic fracturing.