Oil executives bluntly criticize Trump tariffs and ‘drill, baby, drill’ in anonymous survey

Oil executives are warning that President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his “drill, baby, drill” message have created uncertainty in energy markets that is already affecting investment.

The executives, shielded by anonymity, bluntly criticized Trump in their responses to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas from March 12 to March 20.

“The administration’s chaos is a disaster for the commodity markets,” one executive said. ”‘Drill, baby, drill’ is nothing short of a myth and populist rallying cry. Tariff policy is impossible for us to predict and doesn’t have a clear goal. We want more stability.”

Several executives said Trump’s steel tariffs are raising their costs, making it difficult to plan for future projects.

“Uncertainty around everything has sharply risen during the past quarter,” another executive said. “Planning for new development is extremely difficult right now due to the uncertainty around steel-based products.”

They also criticized the suggestion by White House advisors such as Peter Navarro that Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda aims to push oil prices down to $50 a barrel to fight inflation.

“The threat of $50 oil prices by the administration has caused our firm to reduce its 2025 and 2026 capital expenditures,” an executive said. ”‘Drill, baby, drill’ does not work with $50 per barrel oil. Rigs will get dropped, employment in the oil industry will decrease, and U.S. oil production will decline as it did during COVID-19.”

CNBC has asked the White House for comment.

The Dallas Fed Energy Survey is conducted every quarter with about 200 firms responding. The survey covers operators in Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana.

The scathing criticism in the Dallas Fed survey stood in contrast to major oil companies’ public comments at the industry’s big energy conference in Houston earlier this month.

Executives mostly praised Trump’s energy team during the event and welcomed the administration’s focus on increasing leasing and slashing red tape around permitting.