The Trump administration is “unabashedly” pursuing an energy policy of more American production and infrastructure, says U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

“Our goal is to re-industrialize America, not de-industrialize America,” Wright said onstage March 10 during the 2025 CERAWeek by S&P Global conference.

Natural gas will play a key role in the new Trump administration’s energy policy goals.

The fuel supplies around a quarter of total global primary energy consumption today, said Wright, formerly CEO of Denver-based fracking specialist Liberty Energy.

In the U.S., natural gas fuels roughly 43% of electricity generation and is the largest source of home heating.

Nitrogen fertilizer synthesized from natural gas “is responsible for fully half of global food production,” he said.

Natural gas is also key in processes to manufacture steel, cement, semiconductors and thousands of other products.

Wright argued that there is “simply no physical way” renewable energy sources like wind and solar could replace the myriad of uses for natural gas around the world today.

And the Trump administration has favored the natgas industry since the president returned to office in late January.

While speaking onstage, Wright said he would approve an extension for LNG exports for Delfin LNG—a proposed floating LNG export project in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Trump administration recently granted similar approvals for the Commonwealth LNG and Golden Pass LNG projects on the Gulf Coast.

Wright said the administration has also taken actions to enable the bunkering of LNG for powering tanker ships.

Analysts and industry executives generally expect LNG demand to grow well into the 2040s.

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Drill, baby, drill

The new Trump administration has a stated goal of lower energy costs for American citizens, Wright said.

“We certainly believe it’s in the best interest of the American people—and honestly, the citizens of the world—to have lower oil prices,” Wright said.

The actions of the Trump administration aim to make it easier for E&Ps to produce oil and gas, he said.

He criticized the previous Biden administration for making it difficult for producers to obtain permits to drill wells, build pipelines or develop other energy infrastructure.

“We got the obvious result,” Wright said, citing elevated energy costs seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

President Donald Trump has encouraged U.S. producers to “drill, baby, drill” their way to output growth.

The producers are more hesitant to massively step up their drilling spending. Instead, they’re preferring to send excess cash back to investors through dividends and share buybacks.

The U.S. is also churning out oil and gas at record levels, and producers are cautiously watching where oil prices are heading.

WTI oil prices dropped below $70/bbl in early March due to tariff uncertainty and OPEC’s announcement that it plans to increase output by 138,000 bbl/d in April—the cartel’s first increase since 2022.

WTI strip prices averaged about $65/bbl through the end of 2025, according to CME Group data.

The administration also aims to encourage additional export outlets for U.S. natural gas, including LNG exports and piped-gas exports to Canada and Mexico, Wright said.

In early March, natural gas prices increased 9% to a 26-month high on higher LNG export flows and concerns over tariffs.

But building out new midstream and pipeline infrastructure could encourage additional domestic production from certain areas. To produce more, more infrastructure is needed to move the product to market, Wright said.

“Of course, ‘drill, baby, drill’ also requires ‘build, baby, build,’” Wright said.

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Drilling efficiencies

The energy profile of the U.S. has changed immensely in just the past 15 to 20 years, Wright noted.

About two decades ago, the U.S. imported more natural gas than any other country. Conventional wisdom held that the U.S. would be the world’s largest energy importer for the foreseeable future.

At that time, 1,600 rigs were scattered around the U.S. drilling for natural gas, Wright said.

Technological advancements, including horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, made shale gas extraction economically feasible.

Wright credited the efforts of George Mitchell and Mitchell Energy for pioneering the economic production of shale gas from the Barnett Shale near Fort Worth, Texas.

Today, there are only around 100 rigs drilling for U.S. natural gas—but gas production has doubled, he said.

“That evolution led to just dramatic increases in productivity per rig to develop natural gas,” Wright said.

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