Fossil Fuels

Companies that explore for, produce, refine, transport, export, or trade oil, natural gas, and coal — including upstream exploration and production firms, integrated oil majors, LNG exporters, coal producers, commodities traders, and the industry's trade associations and lobbying arms.

• Alliance Resource Partners

  Business
• Alpha Metallurgical Resources

  Business
• American Petroleum Institute

  Advocacy Group
• Armstrong Oil and Gas

  Business
• Aspect Holdings

  Business
• BP America

  Business
• Cheniere Energy

  Business
• 
  Chevron Corp

  Business
• Commonwealth LNG

  Business
• 
  ConocoPhillips

  Business
• Continental Resources

  Business
• Courson Oil and Gas

  Business
• CrownQuest Operating

  Business
• Double Eagle Development

  Business
• Energy Transfer

  Business
• Epoch Oil and Gas

  Business
• 
  Exxon Mobil

  Business
• Formentera Partners

  Business
• GeoSouthern Energy

  Business
• Heritage Coal and Natural Resources

  Business
• Hilcorp Energy Company

  Business
• Iron Senergy

  Business
• Javelin Global Commodities

  Business
• Liberty Energy

  Business
• Midland Energy

  Business
• 
  Occidental Petroleum

  Business
• Repsol

  Business
• Santos Ltd.

  Business
• Sempra

  Business
• 
  Shell USA

  Business
• The Cline Group

  Business
• United Refining Company

  Business
• Venture Global LNG

  Business

Actions involving organizations in this sector, players affiliated with them, or sector-wide benefits.

• Government ActionBeneficiary

  March 2026
  Trump's Interior Department generates record $164M from Alaska oil lease sale$163.7M
  Armstrong Oil and GasConocoPhillipsEpoch Oil and GasExxon MobilRepsolSantos Ltd.Shell USA

  The U.S. upstream fossil-fuel industry is the structural beneficiary of the BLM's statutorily mandated lease sale program. The OBBBA mandate requires at least five NPR-A sales offering ≥4 million acres each through 2035, locking in a long-cycle lease pipeline for industry participants.

• Government ActionBeneficiary

  October 2025
  Interior reopens 1.56-million-acre ANWR Coastal Plain to oil and gas leasing

  Reopens up to 1.56 million acres of the ANWR Coastal Plain — estimated to hold up to 11.8 billion barrels of recoverable oil — to leasing across the U.S. oil and gas industry.

• Private Action

  October 2025
  Corporations pledge funding for Trump's $300M White House ballroom
  Harold Hamm
• Government ActionBeneficiary

  July 2025
  Trump tax law lets oil drillers dodge the corporate minimum tax

  Oil and gas producers — especially independent onshore drillers subject to the corporate alternative minimum tax — benefit from being able to deduct intangible drilling costs against that tax, reducing or eliminating their minimum-tax liability. The benefit is structural and inherited by any qualifying producer, not directed to a single company.

• Government ActionBeneficiary

  February 2025
  Trump creates National Energy Dominance Council chaired by Burgum
  Chris Wright

  Fossil-fuel producers (oil, gas, coal) are the largest single class of beneficiaries — the council's mandate explicitly targets maximizing domestic production and coordinating regulatory streamlining across the fossil sector.

• Government Action

  February 2025
  Trump's Energy Department grants Commonwealth LNG first post-pause export license
  Commonwealth LNGChris Wright
• Government Action

  January 2025
  Trump restarts stalled natural gas export approvals paused by Biden
  Cheniere EnergyCommonwealth LNGEnergy TransferSempraVenture Global LNGChris Wright
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Alpha Metallurgical Resources donates $500K to Trump-Vance inaugural$500K
  Alpha Metallurgical Resources
• Private Action

  January 2025
  American Petroleum Institute's PAC donates $500K to Trump-Vance inaugural$500K
  American Petroleum Institute
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Aspect Holdings donates $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural$1M
  Aspect Holdings
• Private Action

  January 2025
  BP America donates $500K to Trump-Vance inaugural$500K
  BP America
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Chevron Corp donates $2M to Trump-Vance inaugural$2M
  Chevron Corp
• Private Action

  January 2025
  ConocoPhillips donates $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural$1M
  ConocoPhillips
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Exxon Mobil donates $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural$1M
  Exxon Mobil
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Iron Senergy donates $500K to Trump-Vance inaugural$500K
  Iron Senergy
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Javelin Global Commodities donates $500K to Trump-Vance inaugural$500K
  Javelin Global Commodities
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Jeffery and Melinda Hildebrand donate $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural$1M
  Jeffery HildebrandMelinda Hildebrand
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Joseph Craft donates $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural$1M
  Joseph Craft
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Occidental Petroleum donates $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural$1M
  Occidental Petroleum
• Private Action

  January 2025
  Shell USA donates $500K to Trump-Vance inaugural$500K
  Shell USA
• Government ActionBeneficiary

  January 2025
  Trump order ends EV mandates and state emissions waivers

  Ends federal EV mandates and state emissions waivers, sustaining demand for gasoline-powered vehicles and the fossil fuels that power them.

• Government ActionBeneficiary

  January 2025
  Trump order directs agencies to rescind energy-burdening regulations

  Directs every federal agency to suspend or rescind rules burdening oil, gas, and coal development, easing the regulatory load across the fossil-fuel industry.

• Government ActionBeneficiary

  January 2025
  Trump order directs EPA to reconsider 2009 endangerment finding

  Targets the legal basis for federal greenhouse-gas rules, relieving the fossil-fuel industry of the emissions standards built on the 2009 endangerment finding.

• Government ActionBeneficiary

  January 2025
  Trump revokes twelve Biden climate and environmental orders

  Repeals Biden-era clean-energy and clean-car policies, removing the regulatory support that favored fossil fuels' competitors.

• Private Action

  January 2025
  Venture Global LNG donates $1M to Trump-Vance inaugural$1M
  Venture Global LNG
• Private Action

  October 2024
  Angela Svonavec donates $500K to Right for America$500K
  Angela Svonavec
• Private Action

  October 2024
  Jeffery Hildebrand donates $512K to Trump 47 Committee$511.6K
  Jeffery Hildebrand
• Private Action

  September 2024
  Continental Resources donates $2M to MAGA Inc.$2M
  Continental Resources
• Private Action

  September 2024
  Harold Hamm donates $1M to MAGA Inc.$1M
  Harold Hamm
• Private Action

  September 2024
  Syed Javaid Anwar donates $1.42M to Trump 47 Committee$1.42M
  Syed Javaid Anwar
• Private Action

  July 2024
  Alex Cranberg donates $500K to Trump 47 Committee$500K
  Alex Cranberg
• Private Action

  July 2024
  Alex Tanner Cline donates $845K to Trump 47 Committee$844.6K
  Alex Tanner Cline
• Private Action

  July 2024
  Cathy Cranberg donates $500K to Trump 47 Committee$500K
  Cathy Cranberg
• Private Action

  July 2024
  Cody Campbell donates $647K to Trump 47 Committee$647.3K
  Cody Campbell
• Private Action

  July 2024
  John Catsimatidis donates $500K to Trump 47 Committee$500K
  John Catsimatidis
• Private Action

  July 2024
  Syed Javaid Anwar donates $500K to Right for America$500K
  Syed Javaid Anwar
• Private Action

  June 2024
  Harold Courson donates $845K to Trump 47 Committee$844.6K
  Harold Courson
• Private Action

  June 2024
  Joseph Craft donates $1M to AMERICA PAC$1M
  Joseph Craft
• Private Action

  May 2024
  Bryan Sheffield donates $845K to Trump 47 Committee$844.6K
  Bryan Sheffield
• Private Action

  May 2024
  George Bishop donates $500K to Trump 47 Committee$500K
  George Bishop
• Private Action

  May 2024
  Kelcy Warren donates $5M to MAGA Inc.$5M
  Kelcy Warren
• Private Action

  March 2024
  Harold Hamm donates $614K to Trump 47 Committee$614K
  Harold Hamm
• Private Action

  March 2024
  Kelcy Warren donates $815K to Trump 47 Committee$814.6K
  Kelcy Warren
• Private Action

  December 2023
  Timothy Dunn donates $5M to MAGA Inc.$5M
  Timothy Dunn
• Private Action

  October 2023
  George Bishop donates $1M to MAGA Inc.$1M
  George Bishop

Derived from affiliations to organizations in this sector.

• Alex Cranberg

  Chair, Aspect Holdings · Private Sector Figure
• Alex Tanner Cline

  Owner, The Cline Group · Private Sector Figure
• Angela Svonavec

  President, Heritage Coal and Natural Resources · Private Sector Figure
• Bryan Sheffield

  Managing Director, Formentera Partners · Private Sector Figure
• Cathy Cranberg

  CEO, Aspect Holdings · Private Sector Figure
• 
  Chris Wright

  Founder, Liberty Energy · Government Official
• Cody Campbell

  Co-founder, Double Eagle Development · Private Sector Figure
• George Bishop

  Founder, GeoSouthern Energy · Private Sector Figure
• Harold Courson

  Owner, Courson Oil and Gas · Private Sector Figure
• 
  Harold Hamm

  Founder, Continental Resources · Private Sector Figure
• 
  Jeffery Hildebrand

  Founder, Hilcorp Energy Company · Private Sector Figure
• 
  John Catsimatidis

  CEO, United Refining Company · Private Sector Figure
• 
  Joseph Craft

  CEO, Alliance Resource Partners · Private Sector Figure
• 
  Kelcy Warren

  CEO, Energy Transfer · Private Sector Figure
• 
  Melinda Hildebrand

  Executive, Hilcorp Energy Company · Private Sector Figure
• Syed Javaid Anwar

  CEO, Midland Energy · Private Sector Figure
• Timothy Dunn

  CEO, CrownQuest Operating · Private Sector Figure

• Donations In, Favors Out
• From Donor to Diplomat
• Public Land, Private Hands
• The $251M Inauguration
• The Climate Rollback
• The Fossil Fuel Comeback
• Trump's Megadonors