Despite President Trump’s exhortations to “drill, baby, drill,” U.S. shale oil producers are facing their most serious crisis since the pandemic, as the sudden oil price selloff triggered in part by President Trump’s trade war has pushed parts of the sector to the brink of failure, industry executives warned this week Oil markets have been hit with a potential “double whammy” of declining demand from a tariff-induced economic slowdown combined with new supplies, with OPEC+ announcing last week it planned to raise production faster than expected in the coming months. Analysts say Trump’s decision to leave tariffs on China, the world’s biggest oil importer, will continue to loom over global crude demand prospects.
