Will Richardson explains why oil companies have frozen new drilling projects. Capital hates uncertainty, and the regulatory environment has become too volatile. Recent climate investments approved under one policy regime now face a different landscape, threatening their returns.
Regulatory certainty is an asset. Chaos is a liability. Business can plan around strict rules. Business can plan around loose rules. What it cannot plan around is rules that swing wildly depending on who's in office. Oil companies are now facing a very different reality than they expected, with new drilling on hold because of the uncertainty. Capital hates uncertainty. Always has, always will. Any business that made a serious climate investment in the US in the last 5 years is now sitting on top of a policy environment that didn't exist when the investment case got signed off.
