In 2025, Oil & Gas Watch News chronicled the first year of President Donald Trump’s “drill, baby, drill,” agenda, and many of our most popular articles examined the reality behind the rhetoric of his energy promises. 

The two articles that attracted the largest numbers of readers last year focused on the unexpected declines in drilling activity in the U.S. under Trump and a steady reduction in oil and gas jobs, even though job creation in the energy sector was one of his stated goals. 

Other top stories of 2025 (listed below) covered massive but little-known energy projects in Alaska and Louisiana, as well as on federal public lands across the West.  One of these articles detailed the Pikka Project in Alaska, which could produce oil for decades in an environmentally sensitive part of the Arctic. 

Many readers were also interested in our coverage of an effort by government and industry in Louisiana to buy out residents of a historic, majority-Black community along the Mississippi River to make room for an industrial “MegaPark.” 

These were our top 5 most popular articles in 2025: 

1. In an ironic twist, drilling has declined under Trump’s 'Drill, Baby, Drill'

Our top story last year focused on a drop in drilling during the first year of Trump’s second term, despite promises of an oil and gas boom. 

The number of active drilling rigs continued to decline throughout the year, from 582 in January to 548 in October, a nearly 6 percent reduction, according to the EIA. Oil production, however, hit a record high in July, with companies learning over time to produce more oil with fewer rigs.

“I’d say it’s a ‘drill baby drill’ boom that is not coming to fruition,” said Anthony Kovscek, professor of energy science and engineering at Stanford University, who studies the oil and gas industry. “If you look at what some of the major U.S. oil companies are signaling, they are talking about staff cuts and budget reductions. So they don’t seem very bullish on future oil prices, for sure.”

2. The huge new oil project in Alaska that is escaping national attention

Oil & Gas Watch News was one of the few outlets to highlight the lesser-known Pikka Project on state and tribal land in Alaska – a project overshadowed by proposals to open more federal land and waters for drilling.

Australian energy company Santos, Spanish company Repsol, and ASRC Energy, a subsidiary of the Alaska Native-owned Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (ASRC), has received approvals and is currently building the first phase of the Pikka Project, an effort to produce hundreds of millions of barrels of oil over the next 30 years.

Pikka and other neighboring projects have the potential to continue pumping oil for decades. Philip Wight, an environmental historian at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said oil and gas production are key to shoring up state budgets in Alaska.

“It’s not that the nation needs Alaska’s gas or Alaska’s oil,” Wight said. “It’s that Alaska doesn’t have a sustainable fiscal model, and we need to produce the oil in order to keep the state afloat.”

3. Thousands of permits to drill on federal lands are not being used. So why 'expedite' more?

Headed by former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, federal agencies under Trump have been pushing to accelerate oil and gas leasing and drilling projects, even as experts say the plan will not affect fuel prices for consumers. 

When Trump took office last January, oil and gas companies had received more than 6,000 permits to drill on federal land. By November, the number of permits sitting idle increased to nearly 9,000, according to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). 

Trump’s narrative that the Biden Administration was intent on keeping the industry off public land was also inaccurate. In fact, BLM approved almost as many drilling permits during Biden’s term (13,658 permits) as during the first Trump Administration (14,608), according to data on the BLM website. 

Trump has since directed federal agencies to speed up the pace of permit approvals. From Jan. 20 to Dec. 30, the BLM under Trump approved 5,693 permits. 

4. The oil and gas industry keeps laying off workers as Trump pushes 'drill, baby, drill!'

The U.S. oil and gas workforce continued shrinking last year, with major companies, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP, all announcing layoffs amid a decade-long trend of declining industry employment.

In the early 2000s, advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing ushered in a new era of increasing production from shale formations previously considered too expensive to develop. That led to a rise in oilfield jobs that culminated in late 2014, when more than 200,000 people were employed in oil and gas extraction, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Since then, the oil and gas jobs have seen a decade-long decline, even as production has soared to record highs. The industry has found that it can produce more fuel with technological innovation than by adding more human workers. Examples include drilling multiple wells from one pad and boring longer wells. 

5. Louisiana officials want to displace a majority Black community to make room for industrial 'MegaPark'

In the small community of Modeste, Louisiana, south of Baton Rouge, officials are offering billions in tax breaks and free land to attract a “MegaPark” industrial complex with a steel plant and at least two facilities that turn natural gas into ammonia.

In August, the Ascension Parish government issued a request for companies interested in developing a plan to relocate residents and buy out their properties on the west bank of the Mississippi River, in an area that is currently made up of homes and farm fields.

Twila Collins is among the residents in the area targeted for removal who is pushing back. She has lived in Modeste for 55 years and does not want to move to make room for industrial plants.

“My ancestors worked hard for what they left here for us to be able to enjoy, not for us to just give it away or for somebody to come here and take it from us,” Collins said.

Thanks to our readers and subscribers for following our work in 2025 and we look forward to keeping you informed in the new year. If you are new to Oil & Gas Watch News, you can sign up for our free weekly newsletter through this link.

Lead photo: A Pemex refinery in Deer Park, Texas. Photo by Garth Lenz / Flight SouthWings.