{"id":20044,"date":"2025-01-21T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T02:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/?p=20044"},"modified":"2025-01-21T11:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T02:09:13","slug":"the-trump-era-returns-is-a-second-shale-revolution-on-the-horizon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/archives\/20044","title":{"rendered":"The Trump Era Returns: Is a Second Shale Revolution on the Horizon?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 20th<\/sup>, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th<\/sup> President of the United States, heralding the commencement of his second term. With this new administration, there is significant speculation about a potential resurgence in the U.S. energy sector.<\/span><\/p>\n

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|<\/span> “Drill, Baby, Drill”: Trump’s Economic Strategy Through Energy Expansion<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout his campaign, President Trump championed the aggressive development of fossil fuels, encapsulated by his rallying cry, “Drill, Baby, Drill.” Now in office, he is poised to follow through on this commitment. His “Agenda 47” outlines a comprehensive plan to bolster the fossil fuel industry. Key initiatives include expediting permits for oil and natural gas exploration, unlocking extensive oil reserves on public lands for energy development, offering tax incentives to American oil, gas, and coal producers, replenishing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), and withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trump administration’s vision is to revitalize the oil and gas sectors, positioning the United States as the global leader in affordable energy. During his first term, the shale gas boom led to low oil prices, easing inflationary pressures and facilitating interest rate cuts and economic stimulus that revitalized the U.S. manufacturing sector. President Trump aims to replicate this success by ensuring access to inexpensive energy, thereby attracting advanced industrial facilities like data centers and semiconductor plants to the U.S., and sparking a new era of American manufacturing growth.<\/span><\/p>\n

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|<\/span> MAGA (Make America Great Again) 2.0: Trump’s Energy Export Strategy Aims to Address Trade Deficits<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The second Trump administration is expected to focus on policies centered around “reducing trade deficits through energy exports.” This approach may lead to increased pressure on countries with significant trade volumes with the U.S. to import American energy.<\/span><\/p>\n

In December 2024, Trump took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to emphasize this strategy, stating, “I told the European Union that they must make up their tremendous deficit with the United States by the large-scale purchase of our oil and gas. Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way!!!”<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea has no choice but to closely monitor President Trump’s policies. South Korean exports to the U.S. have consistently risen for seven consecutive years since 2018. Both the Korean government and private sector have been proactively exploring ways to increase imports of American energy even before Trump’s inauguration.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) signed a long-term contract for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the first time in three years since 2022. Some analysts predict that a portion of the 9 million tons of LNG previously imported from the Middle East under long-term contracts could be replaced by American LNG.<\/span><\/p>\n

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|<\/span> Oklahoma: SK Innovation E&S’s Shale Gas Production Hub in the U.S.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Aerial view of the Woodford Shale Gas Field<\/p><\/div>\n

SK Innovation E&S has garnered attention for its direct operation of gas fields in the U.S. and its importation of shale gas to South Korea. In September 2014, SK Innovation E&S acquired a 49.9% stake in the Woodford Shale Gas Project in Oklahoma, which was originally managed by Continental Resources. This acquisition allows the company to produce shale gas directly and import it into South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harold Hamm, Founder and Executive Chairman of Continental Resources, was once a candidate for the Secretary of Energy during Trump’s first administration, despite being focused on managing his business. He is also reported to have recommended Chris Wright, who has been nominated as Secretary of Energy in Trump’s second administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Shale gas is natural gas that is trapped within shale formations, which are rock layers composed of fine-grained sedimentary rock deposited in horizontal layers. These shale formations are extremely hard and have very small pore spaces, making them difficult to extract from with the technology available in the early 20th<\/sup> century. However, the development of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies in the 2000s enabled the commercial production of shale gas. Harold Hamm, mentioned earlier, successfully combined these technologies to extract oil and gas from shale rock formations, leading the U.S. shale revolution in the early 2000s.<\/span><\/p>\n

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SK Innovation E&S and the Woodford Shale Gas Field in Oklahoma<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Located in Oklahoma, the Woodford Shale Gas Field is a key production site within the U.S. energy market, drawing significant attention for its shale gas potential.SK Innovation E&S has secured approximately 218 square kilometers (around 84 square miles) of this site, an area equivalent to roughly 30,000 football fields. The field is estimated to hold about 100 million tons of natural gas reserves. To put this into perspective, this amount is 2.3 times the total natural gas imported by South Korea in 2023, which was around 44.15 million tons.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the Woodford Shale Gas Field, SK Innovation E&S produces approximately 1.2 million tons of gas annually, as of 2023. This production volume accounts for about 3% of South Korea’s natural gas imports in 2023 and represents roughly 10% of the total LNG imported by private companies, which amounts to 9.25 million tons.<\/span><\/p>\n

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    \n\t\t\t\t\tAerial view of the Woodford Shale Gas Field \n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t

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    \n\t\t\t\t\tDrilling equipment at the Woodford Gas Field\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    SK Innovation E&S sells shale gas directly within the U.S. or imports it to South Korea using the Freeport LNG storage facilities and terminals.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The importation of U.S. shale gas not only alleviates trade pressure from the U.S. administration, which is focused on reducing trade deficits, but also enhances South Korea’s energy security.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Moreover, from South Korea’s perspective, importing U.S. LNG\u2014priced in the U.S. spot natural gas market\u2014diversifies its LNG import portfolio, which is heavily linked to oil prices. This strategy provides a hedging capability to offset risks associated with fluctuations in oil prices.<\/span><\/p>\n

    SK Innovation E&S stands as South Korea’s largest private LNG operator, having established a comprehensive value chain that spans from the development and transportation to the consumption of natural gas. With an annual direct import of over 5 million tons of LNG, the company plays a crucial role in bolstering the nation’s energy security.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In its commitment to sustainable energy supply, the company plans to produce low-carbon LNG at the Barossa gas field, currently under development offshore Australia, by applying carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. This initiative underscores SK Innovation E&S’s dedication to being a responsible energy company.<\/span><\/p>\n

    We invite you to stay informed about SK Innovation E&S\u2019s efforts as it continues to play a vital role in enhancing energy security and contributing to the global energy landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    On January 20th, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States, heralding the commencement of his second term. With this new administration, there is significant speculation about a potential resurgence in the U.S. energy sector.   | “Drill, Baby, Drill”: Trump’s Economic Strategy Through Energy Expansion Throughout his campaign, President Trump …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,3,1804,347],"tags":[1812,1811,1810,817,738],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/\uc624\ud074\ub77c\ud638\ub9c8_\uc378\ub124\uc77c_\ud2b9\uc131.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peWInv-5di","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20044"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20044"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20075,"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20044\/revisions\/20075"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skinnonews.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}