[MDLNB]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

America IS open to drilling, the oil companies have over 9,000 drilling permits they are not using.

Thanks to the pandemic and "graying of the workforce" there is a shortage of workers to bring more wells online.

And the BIG reason they are not bringing more wells online:

Over the last decade, U.S. oil production saw tremendous growth. But when prices crashed in 2014, investors lost big money. Oil prices are notoriously volatile, with the industry often suffering from boom-and-bust cycles.

But in the last few years, investors have been making clear to oil producers that they should not sink money into additional drilling in pursuit of the next oil boom. Instead, they want companies to pay back investors.

Exploration and production companies have responded by recording explosive dividend growth. According to the Morningstar U.S. Market Index, the average dividend in dollars per share has grown from $14 in 2018 to $40 in 2021, an increase of more than 180%.

"Energy companies were very afraid to ramp production because they were going to get punished by investors," said Morris, of data provider Alerian.

So, as always the decision to drilling or not is MONEY, not Biden, despite how much so many want to blame Biden.

Wow, someone's been reading the propaganda. Talking about "drilling" someone should DRILL down past the propaganda to get to the truth.