Energy supermajor Shell has warned that the Trump administration’s recent actions against permitted offshore wind projects could have broader implications for investor confidence across the entire US energy sector, including oil and gas.
Speaking to the Financial Times, Shell’s US president Colette Hirstius said that blocking fully permitted offshore wind projects “sends a very damaging signal” to companies assessing long-term investment opportunities.
Her comments come as the administration enforces stop-work orders on several offshore wind developments.
These orders were issued for both Ørsted’s Rhode Island offshore wind development and Equinor’s New York project. The administration has lifted one, while a federal judge has reversed the other.
“I think uncertainty in the regulatory environment is very damaging. However far the pendulum swings one way, it’s likely going to swing just as far the other way,” Hirstius said when asked about the stop-work orders.
Hirstius cautioned that sudden policy reversals — whether targeting clean energy or hydrocarbons — create instability that affects all parts of the sector.
This kind of environment was also seen during the Biden administration and its restrictions on offshore lease sales, which rattled oil and gas industry investors.
Shell, which invests around $10bn a year in the US, is among the firms most exposed to changes in regulatory direction. It is also the largest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico with 11 offshore facilities.
The company has already been affected by Trump’s policies. It opted to exit from the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project in New Jersey earlier this year, resulting in an estimated $1bn write-down.
