The anonymous comments from shale-oil executives in the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ quarterly energy survey are rarely complimentary to President Joe Biden and his policies.

The remarks in last week’s edition, however, were particularly notable given the apparent state of the market. The US is pumping more crude than ever, surpassing the two next largest producers — Russia and Saudi Arabia — by millions of barrels a day.

Prices are lofty enough for most operators to pump profitably. And forecasts suggest prices could rise even higher.

Yet none of that bullishness was evident in the recent commentary.

“Washington’s war against domestic oil and gas is winning,” one industry executive said in the survey.

Another added: “The administration needs to reverse course and show support for American energy.”

The Dallas Fed’s survey is a fixture in the energy sector, polling about 200 oil and gas companies based in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana about their outlooks and views on the industry. It includes anonymous comments from executives, allowing them to offer unvarnished views they may not otherwise publicly express.

The dissonance between their comments and current conditions in the oil sector reflects the industry’s frustration with a president who has championed clean energy, pushed to limit new crude development on federal lands and, most recently, froze new permits to export liquefied natural gas.

Despite all that, fossil-fuel production has surged, and many oil companies have thrived.

The fact that executives remain unwavering in their criticism shows just how deep today’s political tribalism runs.

Nonetheless, US oil production is forecast to keep rising, on pace to end the year at about 14 million barrels a day, according to Macquarie Group Ltd.

–David Wethe, Bloomberg News