{"id":233955,"date":"2026-01-15T04:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T04:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/233955\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T04:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T04:05:13","slug":"infrastructure-permitting-reform-essential-ahead-of-demand-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/233955\/","title":{"rendered":"Infrastructure, permitting reform essential ahead of \u2018Demand Decade\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2014 As the United States enters an energy inflection point, the country\u2019s oil and gas producers indicate they are poised to meet insatiable needs. <\/p>\n

However, permitting reform will be critical in them being able to do so, according to American Petroleum Institute<\/a> president and CEO Mike Sommers.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, America has energy in the ground and demand on the grid, but too often the connection between the two is blocked by red tape, delay and endless lawsuits,\u201d he told a crowd of industry leaders, policymakers and market analysts at API\u2019s annual State of American Energy event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In spite of relatively soft crude prices hovering at levels below $70 per barrel<\/a> amid fears of a supply glut, Sommers insisted the U.S. is entering a \u201cdemand decade\u201d that will require historic amounts of new energy.<\/p>\n

Business Briefing<\/p>\n

Become a business insider with the latest news.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether our nation can meet that demand will define its trajectory,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

At a moment when the world is demanding more energy than ever thanks to population growth and the surge of both artificial intelligence and digital transformation, the U.S. leads in both oil and natural gas production.<\/p>\n

The industry has also driven down emissions per barrel of oil and natural gas, while output and productivity have climbed, Sommers said. <\/p>\n

While Sommers said the state of American energy is strong, adding that no other country is better positioned to lead into the next 10 years, there\u2019s still work to be done.<\/p>\n

\"Oil<\/p>\n

Oil and gas industry leaders gathered at American Petroleum Institute’s annual State of American Energy on Jan. 13, 2026, at The Anthem in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

Ian Wagreich \/ capitolhillphoto.com<\/p>\n

This year, API \u2014 one of the country\u2019s most powerful oil and gas trade groups \u2014 is prioritizing infrastructure and permitting reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica knows how to produce energy. The real question is whether we\u2019re willing to build the infrastructure to move it at the speed, scale, and reliability the \u2018Demand Decade\u2019 requires,\u201d Sommers said, calling permitting reform essential. <\/p>\n

\u201c … It\u2019s the difference between meeting demand or not, and API is all in until it becomes the law of the land because when America builds, America wins.\u201d<\/p>\n

The group\u2019s other top energy policy priorities also include access and international competitiveness, something which API says will create durable policy that will outlast political cycles and support long-erm investment, reliability and growth.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Long-distance<\/p>\n

All sources of energy will be needed to meet demand, Sommers told a group of reporters after the prepared speeches. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to need … a lot more energy going forward, and that means all sources of energy,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not in competition with each other so if we\u2019re going to win the race for artificial intelligence, we\u2019re going to have to have all sorts of energy at the table. And that means everybody puts the weapons down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The United States has been setting oil and gas production records<\/a>, currently producing more than 13 million barrels of oil per day. That\u2019s more than any other country.<\/p>\n

Texas, home to the most petroleum refineries<\/a> and most refining capacity in the nation, plays a large role in that. The state\u2019s production also broke records last year<\/a>, including crude oil production reaching 5.85 million barrels per day in July and market natural gas averaging 35.4 cubic feet per day in August.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/a>Exxon calls Venezuela \u2018uninvestable\u2019 as Trump pushes oil plan<\/a><\/p>\n

Energy execs met with Trump Friday as the U.S. continues to move on Venezuelan oil tankers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>Meta taps Vistra, 2 others for nuclear energy to power AI supercluster in Ohio<\/a><\/p>\n

Along with the Irving-based company, TerraPower and Oklo also signed purchase power agreements with Meta.<\/p>\n

This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON \u2014 As the United States enters an energy inflection point, the country\u2019s oil and gas producers indicate…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[138,219,1667,138622,138623,111,139,69,15758],"class_list":{"0":"post-233955","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-energy","11":"tag-future-of-north-texas","12":"tag-future-of-north-texas-energy-environment","13":"tag-new-zealand","14":"tag-newzealand","15":"tag-nz","16":"tag-washington-dc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}