US Mining and Energy Extraction Sector NAICS 21

Apr 14, 2025 - Trump to Europe: Buy More US Oil

• President Trump has a deal for Europe: In return for tariff relief, buy $350 billion of US energy products – an amount nearly equal to the value of all the oil and gas the EU imported last year – The Wall Street Journal reports. EU member countries imported around $420 billion of oil, natural gas and coal from various countries in 2024, including a substantial amount from the US, according to WSJ. To reach Trump’s $350 billion target means the US would replace most of the EU’s other suppliers in Norway, North Africa, and the Middle East. “The possibility of the EU buying more American energy to get tariff relief is a myth that needs to be debunked,” Simone Tagliapietra, a senior fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told WSJ. Moreover, Europe has been reducing its reliance on fossil fuels as it transitions to renewable energy sources.
• The Trump administration is reported to be considering an executive order that would accelerate deep-sea mining in international waters by allowing companies to bypass a United Nations-backed review process, Mining.com reports. According to sources cited by Reuters, the EO would affirm the US’s right to extract critical minerals from the ocean floor, enabling companies to bypass the International Seabed Authority and seek permits directly from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Such an EO could give mining companies a formal permitting process to complete and avoid the potential perception that they aim to mine the ocean's floors without any oversight, Reuters reported, adding the EO it would mark Trump’s latest attempt to capture international deposits of nickel, copper, and other critical minerals following recent efforts to tap resources in Greenland and Ukraine.

• The price of antimony – a critical metal used in munitions, solar panels, semiconductors, and other industrial products – has soared following China’s ban on certain rare earth mineral (REM) exports to the US, Reuters reports. In December, China banned exports of certain REMs to the US in retaliation for the Biden administration’s imposition of export controls to China, pushing antimony prices to all-time highs, $51,500 per metric ton as of February 2025. Overall, antimony prices soared by around 250% last year. China controls roughly half of global antimony production, with Tajikistan and Russia controlling some 30%, leaving the US dependent of foreign sources. A proposed antimony mine in Idaho received its final approvals in January after a decade-long wait. The mine’s operator, Perpetua, estimates the mine will be able to provide as much as 35% of the nation’s antimony needs once it becomes fully operational in 2028.
• The Trump administration may classify uranium as a critical mineral, unlocking federal funding and fast-track permitting for US projects, OilPrice.com reported in February. In 2023, the US had five operating uranium mines, down from 20 mines in 2009. Currently, the US imports nearly all of the uranium concentrate used in its nuclear generators, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Since peaking in the early 1980s, domestic production of uranium concentrate – the first step in the nuclear fuel production process – has fallen to the point where imports account for 99% used to make nuclear fuel. US uranium mines produced just 50,000 pounds of uranium concentrate in 2023, a significant decrease from the 194,000 pounds produced in 2022, per the EIA. Demand for uranium is expected to grow due to increasing the power requirements from AI data centers.