Akin Gump Hosts 2022 Mid-Year Energy Briefing

The oil & gas industry is experiencing a fundamental transformation in how companies access and deploy capital in 2026. Despite strong balance sheets and robust free cash flow generation, the sector is witnessing strategic shifts in funding sources and investment priorities that signal a new era of capital allocation.

Akin is proud to serve as a Summit Sponsor of Infocast’s Solar + Wind Finance & Investment Summit taking place March 15-18 in Phoenix.

The global energy sector enters 2026 amid major policy shifts, geopolitical tension and evolving market dynamics. The Trump administration’s reversal of Biden-era climate initiatives and renewed emphasis on domestic production have reshaped the policy landscape, offering a more favorable regulatory environment even as conflicts abroad, oil price volatility and shifting trade policies tempered deal activity through 2025.

On January 16, 2026, the National Energy Dominance Council (NDEC) and governors from each of the 13 states in PJM issued a Statement of Principles urging PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) to hold an emergency backstop auction and take other measures to support the entry of new capacity to preserve the reliability of the PJM region. The Statement of Principles calls on PJM to expeditiously file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) tariff revisions that would overhaul aspects of PJM’s market rules to address rising electricity prices and growing reliability risks in the PJM region. The Statement of Principles comes at a time of growing concern that PJM will not have sufficient capacity in the coming years to meet demand due to the retirement of existing generation resources, the glacial pace of new entry and projected increased demand associated with data center development.