Good morning; here's what the Oilman has for you today:

• Biden Backtracks on Federal Land Drilling Ban

• Tragedy: Solar Car Researchers Die in Prototype Explosion

• Tweet of the Day

Biden Backtracks on Federal Land Drilling Ban

President Biden’s first order of business when he took office was to ban oil and gas drilling on most federal lands effectively.

Now, he’s obviously reconsidered, with the Interior Department formally rebuffing an activist call to phase down drilling on federal land.

A death foretold

Biden was really loud about the drilling ban while he campaigned.

Then he stuck to his word and banned new drilling on federal lands.

A year later, the ban was lifted. Remember why?

That’s right, because a supply squeeze sent prices flying, that’s why.

And Biden started calling on the industry to pump more, not less.

Talk about a U-turn.

Against this background, there’s nothing weird about the latest decision by the Department of Interior.

It claimed “limited resources” for phasing down oil and gas drilling on federal lands.

Indeed, resources are limited—hydrocarbon resources without more drilling.

But activists are unhappy. Of course, they are.

That’s their job.

Keep it in the ground no more

Last year offered an object lesson in energy security to the Biden administration.

For all the anti-oil talk, when the security of energy supply—oil supply—was on the line, the rhetoric changed immediately.

Before, drillers were bad because they drilled for oil.

Now, drillers were bad because they didn’t want to drill for oil.

Whatever drillers did, they were in the wrong.

But in the meantime, Biden approved the Willow project.

And the Alaska LNG project.

And now the DOI has put an end to the pretense it would ban drilling on federal lands.

Because energy security is and always will be more important than lofty green goals.

Today’s Edition Is Brought To You By ROX Exploration

Invest in the future of energy with ROX Exploration – a family-owned, independent company dedicated to exploring, developing, and producing oil and natural gas assets. ROX's team of experts drills and operates properties throughout Oklahoma.

If you're an accredited investor looking to diversify into direct oil & gas working interest offerings, then connect with ROX Exploration today.

Tragedy: Solar Car Researchers Die in Prototype Explosion

Two Italian researchers working on converting an internal combustion engine car into a solar-powered vehicle were killed this week after the car exploded.

The direct cause of the explosion has yet to be established.

Straight out of Black Mirror

The idea of the researchers, it seems, was to make a car like the solar-paneled car in that Black Mirror episode.

Solar Panel Charging Car - Black Mirror, Black Museum from Solarify India on Vimeo.

But they wouldn’t make it from scratch.

They’d convert a regular, gas-powered VW Polo into a solar car.

The goal, in case you were wondering, was to solve the charger shortage for EVs.

As the UK’s Daily Telegraph put it,

“Solar-powered cars have been regarded as a potential solution to the lack of infrastructure and cheap charging needed to accelerate the electric vehicle revolution.”

And here I thought revolutions accelerated on their own and didn’t need prop-ups.

How the engine became public enemy #1

The internal combustion engine is one of the greatest inventions in history.

It has been instrumental for modern civilization as we know it.

But it has turned into an activism magnet because it uses hydrocarbons.

The relentless attack on the ICE continues even though alternatives keep failing to measure up.

EVs are expensive, non-green, and dangerous.

Hydrogen cars are a lot more expensive.

Hybrids are the most realistic, but they’re bad, too, because, well, they have ICEs.

There is no viable alternative to petroleum-powered cars.

Or trucks. Or tractors. Or planes.

But sure, let’s keep trying to kill the ICE car even if it costs lives.

Upcoming Oil & Gas Events

• July 19-20: 2023 Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico Annual Meeting

• July 20: Bakken Classic Fishing Derby

Around the Global Patch

🇨🇦 Alberta terminates natural resources partnership with Chinese fund.
🇳🇴 Norwegian government counters green groups' claims.
🇷🇺 Russia's natural gas revenues plummet.

Tweet of the Day

Thanks for reading today's Oil Patch!

Stay oily, my friend.

Two quick requests before you go:

• If you found this useful, forward this email to a friend to spread the word. 👇

• Take 1 second to answer the poll below, and please tell us what you think 👇👇