DENVER—Fresh from two campaign rallies in the Colorado cities of Loveland and Pueblo, the Republican presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, recently met in Denver with an informal group of more than one dozen oil and gas executives. The private meeting lasted about an hour and covered several topics of interest to the industry.

“We wanted to be helpful and supply whatever information was needed to help increase understanding,” L. Roger Hutson, president and CEO of HRM Resources II LLC, said. “I think any time an industry has an opportunity to sit down with a major presidential candidate, it owes it to itself to take advantage of that opportunity.”

The group made a similar offer to visit with the Clinton campaign, but as of press time, it had not heard back from former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton about interest in accepting its invitation.

The meeting was cast as an opportunity to allow Trump to gather additional information and additional context on some of the major issues close to the heart of the U.S. energy industry. “Our goal was to give him facts,” Kent Gilbert, operations manager of Fifth Creek Energy, said.

The three executives who agreed to share with Hart Energy a few selected takeaways from the meeting agreed that Trump has a good overall grasp of the industry. “He knew quite a bit about oil and gas and the aches and pains we are currently experiencing,” John Harpole, president of Mercator Energy, said.

A major discussion topic was the heavy regulatory oversight that the domestic energy industry has been experiencing. Trump’s grasp of regulations and their impact on the oil, gas and coal sectors was very insightful on his part, Gilbert said.

Hutson agreed. “Mr. Trump wanted to understand the regulatory challenges that the industry is facing, and he understands that some of the regulations are probably taking away jobs.”

National security issues and energy’s role in U.S. security were also discussed. “Mr. Trump recognizes the part that the shale revolution plays in our ability to have energy security, and he truly appreciates the geopolitical impact of U.S. shale development,” Harpole said.

As a corollary, Trump also realizes that the U.S. has some of the largest natural gas reserves in the world. The group discussed industry frustration over the Department of Energy’s slow pace in licensing LNG export projects, particularly at the end of President Obama’s first term.

Trump advocated for an energy mix that includes all major forms of energy. “Mr. Trump has a good, strong understanding of the economics of the various sources of energy,” Hutson said.

The group discussed the impact of the removal of less expensive forms of energy, such as coal, from the energy blend, and the effect that will ultimately have on overall energy costs.

“We pointed out the positive impact that the shale revolution and hydraulic fracturing have had on lowering energy costs for low-income households as compared to costs five years ago,” Harpole noted.

Green energy was also on the table. “Everybody in the room, including Mr. Trump, was for green energy,” Gilbert said. The group talked about the great potential and opportunities in green energy, as well as its economic challenges and the role of subsidies that green energy needs to survive in the current world market.

“In my opinion, you can find a lot of reasons not to vote for Mr. Trump, but if you are in the energy business, you should think about voting for him because of his energy policy,” Gilbert said. “He is a common-sense businessman, and he understands how business is run.”

Peggy Williams can be reached at pwilliams@hartenergy.com.