Letter from the US: Trumpism threatens oil producers’ survival
Well-functioning democracies are required for healthier economies and a thriving oil industry
Few oil-exporting nations can be labelled democracies. Oil- and mineral-exporting nations work best as autocracies. On the other hand, research by the Nobel-prize-winning economist and MIT professor Daron Acemoglu and three co-authors has showed that long-run per-capita GDP increases by almost 20% when a nation transitions from autocracy to democracy, while declining by a similar amount when an autocrat attains control. The Trump administration’s takeover of the US government has put the country on the path to autocracy. The democratic institutions under which presidents, members of the House of Representees and the Senate—along with the judiciary—have operated for more than 200 years are be

Also in this section
16 April 2025
Israel continues to strike new oil and gas concession agreements and gas exports continue to rise, but an overreliance on Egypt remains the big concern
15 April 2025
Loss of US shipments of key petrochemical feedstock could see Beijing look to Tehran with tariffs set to upend global LPG flows
15 April 2025
Australia’s East Coast Gas projections for a supply shortfall have been pushed further out, but the challenge to meet evolving gas demand and the shifting assumptions around the fundamentals remain just as stark
15 April 2025
Long-delayed prospects for onshore LNG production in Mozambique have improved thanks to US financing approval, but security challenges blight way ahead