Former Shell Oil President John Hofmeister is pouring cold water on former President Barack Obama’s claims that he’s responsible for the country’s boom in oil and gas production.
Mr. Obama on Tuesday told the audience at a gala for Rice University’s Baker Institute that he deserved credit for the oil-and-gas boom that his successor, President Trump, is now enjoying.
“You wouldn’t always know it, but it went up every year I was president,” the former president said to applause. “That whole — suddenly America’s like the biggest oil producer and the biggest gas — that was me, people.”
Mr. Hofmeister, who now serves as CEO for Citizens for Affordable Energy Inc., appeared on Fox News Thursday suggesting that U.S. oil and gas production increased in spite of Mr. Obama’s policies.
“Yes, the production did increase throughout his term, but, frankly, he had nothing to do with it,” Mr. Hofmeister said on “Fox & Friends.”
“This was production in states like Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, North Dakota, in particular. And these were all state decisions made with industry applications for permits. The federal government had no role,” he added. – READ MORE