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Secretary Chris Wright has a plan for Rare Earth and Critical Minerals – What is the timeline?

October 25, 2025 Clark Savage

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Video Transcription edited for grammar. We disavow any errors unless they make us look better or smarter.

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Stuart Turley: [00:00:00] Oil majors are spending a lot more in CapEx. That is a refreshing sign. That and more on the weekly edition of the Energy Newsbeat Daily Standup. [00:00:09][9.7]

Stuart Turley: [00:00:17] Secretary Chris Wright has a plan for rare earth and critical minerals, but what’s the timeline? This is critical. In an outstanding interview with Larry Kudlow on Fox Business, Secretary Chris Wright covered some of the key points in the upcoming China meetings with President Trump and President Xi. The Energy Secretary, Chris Wright, discussed the government’s efforts to develop and produce rare earth minerals, or what we call critical minerals because they’re It’s not really rare for various industries. China has said. Strategically dominated the rare earth industry. And here’s where we’re working to break this. Secretary Scott Besant just said that China is delaying their enforcement of the rare Earth and critical minerals, which is huge win for the Trump administration. But let’s go through some of this. And some of the key points, Michael, are we are two to three years away. Secretary Chris Wright said 24 months. He’d like to get it done in 12, but he says twelve i did not know that we were already processing in california i didn’t think we processed anything other than the illegal driver licenses and illegal cdls oh my goodness this is a cool story. [00:01:31][73.3]

Michael Tanner: [00:01:31] No, this really isn’t. I think this administration led by Chris Wright and Lee Zeldin at the EPA have got a real good handle on this. I think, no pun intended from the article, this is a critical article on critical minerals relative to the fact that if the goal is to diversify the energy mix. I think that’s a good way to talk about how we’re going to have to move forward. I was just at a conference last week down in Houston on the minerals and non-op firm. And, you know, my job was to sit there and listen to all the speakers. You hear a lot of the same stuff over and over, but that’s also an interesting note when you hear the same thing over and over, you have to take note of that. And one of the, every single panel has talked about data centers. And you know I know that’s an overused term in our business. Oh, we’re going to have this huge energy boom from data centers, but it’s true. And so the question is we either going to have to go through a rapid expansion of our energy infrastructure on the fossil fuel side. We’re going have to build new pipelines. We’re gonna have to drill new gas wells and up to be honest, a of that’s not going to happen while these data centers begin to build out. So how are we going to do that? We have to diversify the energy mix stuff. You’ve been talking about the small modular nuclear reactor front, the stuff that Secretary Wright is doing on putting clean coal back into the mix and diversifying the energy mixed is critical. And specifically, if we’re going to want to do solar plus storage on some of these data center to bring down energy costs, because again, that’s really the goal of the administration is to bring down energy costs. I think if they, if you could show them a way to bring down energy cost that they could start doing tomorrow, they would just do it. They wouldn’t really care what the source is. And the problem as we’ve, and you have really dug into on wind is it doesn’t actually lower your energy costs, it just low. It may look like it’s lowering your energy costs because of the tax subsidies and, and maybe the subsidized electrical out dollars that come out of it. But in the long run, it’s actually way worse a lot of your other stuff. So diversifying the energy mix is key. Getting access to these critical minerals are key. And this has been a topic that we’ve talked about for weeks now. And I’m really glad to see the administration kind of diving into it. Oh, you bet. [00:03:36][124.6]

Stuart Turley: [00:03:36] Now that Alaska and Anwar is open for lease sales, who will develop? Michael, the world needs trillions of dollars of investment just to meet normal decline curves. That being said, we are now watching an area in a move that reignites one of the most contiguous debates in American energy policy. The Trump administration flung open the doors to oil and and the U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the completion of a plan to make the Refuge 1.5-acre million coastal plain available for exploration and development. Who’s going to step up and pony up in this day and age right now at $50 oil? Not many. ConocoPhillips is in there with Deep North Slope Roots and at recent wins like the $8 billion Willow project might eye Anwar. I doubt they’re going to be coughing up because you look at their financial statements, they don’t have it in their budget. That’s what we’re going be watching. So Michael, the key point out of this is watch who the leases are. I’m going to getting a hold of Chris over at EnergyNet and really kind taking a look at how those leases are being sold, who’s buying them, who is paying them out, and who do we invest in as we evaluate this. Alaskans want oil and gas drilled. They love it. And that’s jobs. Jobs out the wazoo up there. [00:05:07][91.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:05:07] Yeah, I think you, and in this article, I think brings up two specific companies that would be interested in possibly doing something. Obviously the first one is ConocoPhillips kind of tacking onto their $8 billion Willow project that actually got approved under the Biden administration. So remember this, this is not just a Republican talking point. This was approved under the Biden administration, there are some synergies there. I think, you know, you also mentioned this article Hill Corp, which had been very, very active in the North Slope for many years, but did, you know. Famously in 2012, basically, exit. Now, if there are some tax credits and infrastructure tie-ins and infrastructure plays available to possibly bring them back, they really could. You know, I don’t believe. You’re going to see big companies like Exxon and BP or Chevron decide to take a dive into here. I just think there’s too many other strategic initiatives specifically with Exxons and Chevron now controlling Guyana. BP has really shown no… They’ve really shown no initiatives to want to be able to do this. I don’t think BPX is really interested in doing something similar to this. So I think it’s going to be interesting to see who comes and takes these leases as a small oil company who decides maybe they want to get into the gold rush here. You know, I think the hard part is going to be the capital needed to spend to do this. And I love your, again, one of your titles here, Stickershock, the Capital Expenditures of the Frozen North. You know it’s going to. Continue to be expensive and you have to talk about the the roads the infrastructure that you have To build the heated pipelines a bunch of spill-proof tech that needs to continue to be in there And that is way above and beyond what is kind of normal conventional u.s Shale costs, you know even at 7 billion barrels of estimated recoverable reserves that could cost between 10 and 20 buh-buh-buh billion dollars I’m in a front gamble for a single large-scale project and you know, that’s if you trust Yale And I think Yale is probably coming in a little bit low relative to that. I think operator expenses are also fairly intense. And to give you guys an idea, global upstream capex was 85 billion in 2020. And I don’t, you’re talking about 20 billion just in one project. I think it’s going to be very difficult, but I think I agree with you. Following who’s going get in on this is going to be key to lowering energy costs. [00:07:25][137.6]

Stuart Turley: [00:07:25] Exactly. And I’m going to read this one paragraph here. Drill baby drill sounds good until you have to pay the bills and $60 oil is the old $40 oil due to inflation by everything else that’s going on. As Stu Turley and Michael Tanner have talked about on the Energy Newsbeat podcast. Oh, that’s us. And their, their deal evaluations, it’s about the returns to investors and being fiscally responsible, like a puppy with a rolled up newspaper. If you beat the puppy too much, you lose the puppy’s affection. And I’m serious. The the oil companies have been beat with a newspaper, a big newspaper, and they are not being fiscally irresponsible anymore. And it’s almost a detriment. New sanctions will not stop the war machine. You know, President Trump, I do I do love President Trump. I think he’s our greatest president. We’ve ever had the amount of things he has overcome. But his listening to the warmonger is dead wrong. And as the Ukraine conflict winds into its fourth year, Western powers are again turning to the familiar playbook of economic sanctions this week. The United States slapped sweeping restrictions on Russia’s two largest oil producers, Rosenfit and Luke Oil, while the European Union rolled out its 19th sanctioning package over 100 shadow fleet tankers in banning Russian liquid and natural gas LNG imports by the 2026. By 2027, they’re supposed to be all out except for the landlocked countries of Poland, I believe, and not Poland, but Hungary and a couple others over there. But Michael, the dark fleet is about 1,680 different tankers that are out there. 750 are owned by Russia, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela. They all are in this mix in there and hitting that is like trying to hit a whack-a-mole. It is a very well orchestrated movement and sanctions don’t work as intended. This is just a huge mistake. Now, this brings up another article that I did last week. What is the real reason for Venezuela? Because we don’t have sanctions going on really there. They’ve got a huge reserve, but everybody thinks that the war going on in Venezuela is simply because of the narco-terrorists? No, it’s because the Monroe Doctrine has not been enforced for the last 30, 40 years, and this is about China’s encroachment into South America. Buckle up. We got some more things coming around the corner on that one. [00:10:03][158.1]

Michael Tanner: [00:10:03] Yeah. I mean, this article just leads me more to a question of like, why do this? Like, I think the data is really clear that these sanctions haven’t worked. And if, I mean selfishly from an oil and gas standpoint, like $55 oil was not pretty. I’m mean, it’s nice to see $61 oil relative. It’s nice just to see oil above 60. So these, these sanctions have helped it, but what’s, what do you think the rationale is? Who’s in his ear? Like this, it just doesn’t make any sense. [00:10:29][26.0]

Stuart Turley: [00:10:30] No, you’ve got the folks that have been in his ear are pro-war and it is the entire pro- war. The EU is on a current track to fail because the Bank of London and the EU need a war to continue their financing. What President Trump needs to understand is the war and he’s doing it. He’s just signed another peace deal, I believe with between Malaysia and another that he’s going to be on the news here pretty soon. He’s working peace. We will see an end to the Russian-Ukraine war very soon. And I think that we are closer to a solution without the EU’s input. [00:11:14][44.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:11:15] Very very interesting, but I know I think this is a a super interesting article just because this plays into I think what we’re going to talk about on the other side here when it comes to what happened to oil prices. [00:11:26][11.0]

Michael Tanner: [00:11:27] As always guys, the news and analysis you just heard. Is brought to you by world’s greatest website, www.energynewsbeat.com. Stu and the team do a tremendous job making sure that website stays up to speed. Everything you need to know to be the tip of the spear when it comes to the energy and the oil and gas business. Go ahead and hit the links in the description below for all links to the timestamps, links to articles, and specifically subscribe to the show on YouTube,subscribe to this show on Apple iTunes. Give us a follow there. Subscribe to our show on Spotify. Please leave comments there and subscribe to our sub stack, www.energynewsbeat.substack.com. That’s probably the best place to support the show. Stu does a great job of releasing two to three articles a week that really encompass the big themes that are going on. We also drop all of our podcasts there, which give a little bit of a breakdown. We just had a great, great podcast. So I highly, highly recommend everybody subscribe to the energy newsbeat.sub stack.com We’d also like to thank friends of the show Reese Energy Consulting for supporting the show guys. Reese Energy Consulting is the foremost midstream expert. Guys, if you had at all. Are dealing with issues in the midstream space, whether you’re an upstream company and need help with your first purchaser’s contract or renegotiating your gas contracts or figuring out where you’re gonna tie in your next pad because you’ve got multiple different options and you’re trying to break it all down. Reese Energy Consulting can help. If you’re in the mainstream space, I need an extra pair of hands, need some permitting or regulation help, or need some red team analysis on a final investment decision, guys. They have the team that can help you check out ReeseEnergyConsulting.com They have clients everywhere and all throughout the country from two people in a garage all the way up to the largest publicly traded companies in the world. So if you’re wondering, are you a good fit for them? The answer is yes. ReeseEnergyConsulting.com And finally guys, investinoil.energynewsbeat.com We are coming up on the end of the year. And I promise you guys, you do not wanna be paying money to Uncle Sam. You wanna keep as much money in your pocket. You wanna diversify your portfolio a little bit and you want to get some dividends. You can do that by investing in oil and gas. Check out investinoil.energynewsbeat.com Fill out our portfolio survey and our tax calculator. And guess what, you guys, you guys are gonna get and get a nice ebook that tells you here’s what you should look for when you invest in oil and gas. And also figure out what your tax burden is and figure out how much you might save relative to your tax burn if you did invest in Oil and Gas, guys. We practice what we preach here, guys, we do this stuff ourselves. Investin oil.energy newsbeat .com Don’t give your money to Uncle Sam. Figure out and find out if oil and gas investing is for you. Depending on if you qualify, we will, again, send you all that information and we may or may not point you in the right direction. Again, investin oil.energynewsbeat.com. [00:14:07][160.3]

Stuart Turley: [00:14:08] We’re in an energy addition. Not a transition. Math is not mathing up to investors or consumers. Billions of dollars wasted. This is an amazing story when you sit back and take a look, the energy global landscape, the narrative of swift transition away from fossil fuels to renewables has dominated the headlines. However, a closer examination of demand trends, investment patterns, and infrastructure realities reveals a different story. We’re in an era of energy addition, not transition. Renewables like wind and solar are expanding rapidly, but oil, natural gas, including LNG, on other fossil fuels continue to grow. Hold on to your seats. This one’s a big story. Let’s start with the first part of this article. Trilly tried to go over Texas ERCOT and we say, wait a minute, the nameplate capacity overpurchase nobody’s talking about. Let’s talk about this. The Texas ERCOT system is an excellent review of nameplate-capacity-overpurchased. You sit back and take a look as of approximately 181… GIGAWATTS! Of that, they have Thermal, which is natural gas, coal, nuclear, diesel, 87.5GW, 40GW of wind, 34.5 GW of solar, Energy Storage, 14.7GW Hydro, 0.6GW Biomass, 07Gw DC Ties or Imports, 1.2 gigawatt. So you start mathing up what this is. This is what they normally reached for context. The system’s all-time peak in 2025 this year was 80. 3.9 gigawatts in August. So we have 181 gigawatte of nameplate capacity, but we only used 83 gigawattes in a peak. Format. Format forecasted peaks were somewhat higher, about 90.5 gigawatts, but actuals came in lower. So when you look at that, let’s match up the investment. ERCOT had $60 billion in wind since 2020. Cumulative capital for solar is $58 billion. Then they had $6.9 billion in total overruns in order to support the getting the power to the grid. So you take a look at that. That’s 134.9 billion spent on Texas wind and solar installations. What could you do with that and put in nuclear plants instead? We would be in a different situation. We would with ERCOT. But let’s match that to the next part of that. And that is oil and gas supply. Demand. Nobody’s talking about the demand. The demand peak oil is not here yet and the 2024 IEA forecast demand growth about 960,000 barrels per day revised down to sluggish. But when you sit back and take a look at peak demand, we’re not even there yet. Natural gas demand including LNG tells a similar story that it is also growing. So you take a look and go wait a minute what else is growing? Coal. We just had another one electrical generation provides a key lens for comparison. We take a Look at how all this plays out. Fossil fuels and global consumption you take look in 2023 that’s where the latest numbers were on that was 17,690 terawatt hours. Renewables was 8,700 TWh and nuclear was only 2,610. Here’s where the rub and that goes back to how much extra of the wind and solar is out there and then how much has to be put back in. So let’s take a look at where the coal is. I even put a coal map in here where all the and eighty-four Megawatt is being produced or in process plants under construction or approved. Very important around the world. That is a lot. Maximum 221 megawatt hours under construction. This is huge. So when you take a look and sit back and go, wait a minute, we are not in an energy transition. Quit kidding yourself. We are an energy addition. We’re adding energy. So let’s quit paying subsidies for wind and solar and say, if you guys can stand on your own rock on, let’s install all the wind and so you possibly can, but no subsidies. And I want to say it wow this is the quiet part quit paying power companies to shut off or not produce and have a total redo of the electrical system because what we are seeing is what i’ve said before micro grids and grids coming in behind the meter are becoming a major major consideration on the grid because then you lose the scalability and the lower cost to consumers when it comes behind the grid. How much gas is gonna be like the data center in Abilene, Texas? How much extra is going to be lost because the demand pull for natural gas and those natural gas turbines is not gonna go to the open market. It’s gonna be contract based. [00:20:08][359.8]

Stuart Turley: [00:20:08] Total Energy, as we say on the Energy Newsbeat podcast, bolsters US gas presence with 49 percent stake in Anadarko Basin Assets. This is pretty cool. As Steve Reese over at Reese Energy Consulting, go over to ReeseEnergyConsulting.com and check them out. If you’re, as our ad says, if you are looking to move molecules, they know who to and how to help you out there. Total energies has acquired 49% in key gas assets in Oklahoma’s Anadarko Basin announced on September 29, 2025 with a deal independent continental resources are not totally public on how all that’s shaken out. Gotta hand it to Harold Ham. That is a big deal. The assets in question are non-shale properties located in Anadarco Basin. And the oklahoma texas kansas and colorado with a focus on oklahomas play in the scoop and stack formations this is very very important when you sit back and take a look how many other countries are doing this we’ve seen japan’s jara i believe doing this is well we’ve see in saudi arabia looking at doing this as well. This is critical. When you take a look at what investors are looking for, they’re looking for investments in the energy stocks. Total Energies has really had a real heartburn because they went totally green on the non-energy transition. And you can see a pattern according to the podcast this morning. And that is that you’re seeing that Total Energetics went totally Green and failed. BP went totally green and failed and now they’re investing billions and going into Iraq and you look at the other things going on there. Taking a look at production ramp up cost and the assets, there are some real issues going on. [00:22:06][117.3]

Stuart Turley: [00:22:07] Lower oil price hit Equinor’s Q3 profits and they miss analyst estimates. Norway’s energy giant Equinor, a major player in the global oil and gas sector, released its third quarter earnings in October 29th, revealing a challenging period marked by declining oil prices that weighed heavily on profitability. The company reported a net loss of $204 million, a stark contrast to the $2.285 billion net income in the same quarter last year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.37, falling short of analyst expectations from around $0,57-$0,62 per share. This miss underscores the total upstream focus to companies to company-wide price swings as Equinor demonstrated operational resilience with record production but the lower energy oil prices got them. However, adjusted operating income declined 10% to $6.2 billion while adjusted net income plummeted 57% to 932 million. This downturn was, like I said, lower realized liquid prices. So when you sit back and take a look at this, the big boys are expanding out and you want to take a looks at Exxon and Chevron, they’ve stayed their course and you take a look at BP Shell and Total Energy that went the green route and failed and have come back home to roost. You’re setting a major change. Companies want to give investors their money back so that they will turn around and invest again. And when you compare the real returns to investors in wind and solar and hydrogen, they’re not there. You’re getting it from the utility companies. Utility companies are a great investment when you look at cashflow. And when we take a look at the companies that are getting into cashflow businesses, their profitability comes from different ways. [00:22:07][0.0][1312.4]