Eager to stay in Mr. Trump’s good graces, oil executives refrain from publicly criticizing the president. But privately, ‘Everyone’s afraid.’
Oil is trading at its lowest level in nearly four years. Costs are rising. And Wall Street is growing more worried by the day that President Trump’s trade policies will tip the United States into a recession.
The reaction in the oil patch? Silence, mostly.
Oil and gas executives, eager to stay in Mr. Trump’s good graces, have offered little public criticism of the president or the tariffs he has rolled out over the past few months. In private, however, they have decried the uncertainty he has sown, including in a recent anonymized survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
If U.S. oil prices fall much lower than $60 a barrel, around where they were trading on Monday, companies could be forced to slow drilling, slash spending and most likely lay off workers, hurting states like Texas.
Oil executives donated millions of dollars to help elect Mr. Trump, who has championed the industry. But if the past few days are any indicator, having a friendly ear in the White House goes only so far.
“Everybody’s afraid,” said Dan Pickering, chief investment officer for Pickering Energy Partners, a Houston financial services firm.
Executives in other industries like finance and technology who have been closely aligned with Mr. Trump have gone further in urging the president to soften his trade policy.