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GRAPHIC on Biden's oil boom: https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-BIDEN/OIL/lgpdngrgkpo/

By Nichola Groom, Jarrett Renshaw

March 28 (Reuters) - Record production. Booming exports.

Rapid jobs growth. Soaring CEO pay and shareholder returns.

Almost no matter the metric, the U.S. oil and gas industry has

flourished under President Joe Biden, even though his

administration has pushed hard to transition the U.S. economy

toward a carbon-free future to fight climate change.

The counter-intuitive fossil fuel boom under Biden reflects an

awkward truth for his supporters and detractors alike ahead of

the November elections, proving that what happens in globally

interconnected markets like oil and gas is often well outside

the immediate control of the person in the White House.

In Biden's case, Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed oil and gas

prices so high that many producers worldwide made record

profits, not just those in the United States. The global

economic recovery that followed the darkest days of the COVID

pandemic also rapidly pumped up demand for fossil fuels.

The profits of the top five publicly traded oil companies, for

example - BP, Shell, Exxon, Chevron ( CVX )

, and TotalEnergies - amounted to $410 billion

during the first three years of the Biden administration, a 100%

increase over the first three years of Donald Trump's

presidency, according to data compiled by Reuters.

Jobs growth in U.S. fossil fuels also far outpaced that in

the renewable energy industries Biden has been promoting to

fight climate change, according to the data.

Trump, Biden's Republican presidential challenger this

November, nonetheless frequently uses Biden's energy policy as a

punchline at his campaign rallies, promising to "drill baby,

drill" and restore America's energy independence when he returns

to the White House - even as the U.S. cements its position as a

fossil fuel superpower.

Biden's supporters, meanwhile, rarely, if ever, tout the lofty

oil and gas performance, focusing instead on his push for a

green economy through lucrative subsidy packages for solar,

wind, electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies that

have sparked new manufacturing projects across the country.

"If Trump were president, he would be talking about the

great oil boom in the United States, the great energy

independence and be taking credit for the relatively low gas

prices," said Ed Hirs, an energy economist at the University of

Houston.

The White House told Reuters that the high U.S. oil and gas

output is helping, not hurting, U.S. efforts to decarbonize the

economy because it ensures steady energy supply in the meantime.

"President Biden has led and delivered on the most ambitious

climate agenda in history, restoring America's climate

leadership at home and abroad," it said in a statement. "As we

make the historic investments needed to transition to a clean

energy economy, record domestic oil and gas production is

helping to meet our immediate needs."

LONGER-TERM IMPACT

Biden came to the White House vowing to accelerate the end

of the oil and gas industry by shifting to a green economy

powered by electric vehicles, hydrogen, wind and solar. Many of

his actions could be transformative over time if allowed to

remain in place.

Among his biggest actions: He canceled the Keystone XL

Pipeline project to bring in more Canadian crude to U.S.

refineries, paused new LNG export permits pending an

environmental review, reduced the federal oil leasing schedule,

and is using the regulatory system and tax credits to speed up

the transition to electric vehicles and renewables.

His critics have sought to tie these actions to rising

prices at the gas pump, which soared amid the turmoil of

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and strain from a surge in

post-COVID demand.

The average price at the pumps during Biden's first three years

was $3.60 a gallon, compared to $2.57 during Trump's presidency,

according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

Biden's signature climate law - the Inflation Reduction Act

- includes billions of dollars in tax credits to help bolster

green industries, and while that package has already triggered a

rush of new manufacturing announcements, its full impact won't

be felt for years.

Dustin Meyer, senior vice president of policy, economics and

regulatory affairs at the American Petroleum Institute, the top

U.S. oil and gas trade group, said he feared Biden's policy

choices could damage oil and gas in years to come, even if they

are having little impact now.

"There's only so much that an administration of either party

can do in the near term to impact supply or demand," he said.

"We are concerned about the administration's policies when it

comes to leasing, when it comes to LNG, when it comes to

infrastructure development, and they are going to make it very

difficult for us to meet the energy needs of the future."

In the meantime, though, fossil fuels jobs have expanded more

quickly than clean energy jobs during Biden's presidency.

The number of U.S. jobs in oil, gas, and coal rose by 11.3%

during the first two years of Biden's presidency, outpacing the

8.8% growth posted in solar and wind energy jobs, according to

figures compiled by BW Research.

The discrepancy was even greater in terms of total jobs,

with fossil fuels growing by nearly 80,000 compared with just

over 38,000 for solar and wind, according to the BW figures.

Data for 2023 has not yet been released.

During Trump's presidency, fossil fuels jobs shrank, driven

mainly by an economic contraction triggered by the COVID

pandemic.

U.S. oil production, meanwhile, has also hit record highs under

Biden, continuing to outpace rivals Saudi Arabia and Russia. The

U.S. also produces more natural gas than ever, pulling record

volumes from wells that spread from Texas to Pennsylvania. As a

result, American ports are sending record volumes of both

abroad, including to allies in Europe who are weaning themselves

off Russia for energy supplies.

All of this has been good for companies and their

shareholders.

In addition to soaring share prices, dividend payments and share

buybacks by the top five oil companies were $111 billion during

the first three years of the Biden administration, a 57%

increase over the first three years of Trump's presidency,

according to the data.

"You could make an argument that the industry has been more

productive, relatively speaking, under this president than ever

before," said Hirs.