‘Gulf of America’ Embraced by Oil Companies

Consultants for oil producers, many of which operate in the Gulf, say some companies are trying to appease and avoid upsetting their pro-fossil-fuel ally in the Oval Office. Why quibble over a name, the consultants said, when they want the Trump administration to open more federal waters to drilling?

In a conference call last month, Chevron’s Wirth said he expects the Gulf—which he began calling the Gulf of America the day after Trump said he would rename it—to keep pumping oil and gas for years. “There’s a lot of running room out there,” with enough for expansions at existing platforms and new projects, he said.

The oil industry is lobbying the administration to quickly create a new five-year leasing plan that would offer oil companies more auctions of acreage in federal waters.

Some oil companies haven’t made the switch. Exxon Mobil, Halliburton and Murphy Oil all called it the Gulf of Mexico in recent conference calls and regulatory filings, before the official change by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The board ensures uniform geographic usage throughout the federal government.

Trump’s renaming decision has been criticized and mocked at home and abroad. Seventy percent of respondents in a Reuters/Ipsos poll last month said they opposed the move.

But companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft have strong incentives to make the change, corporate strategists said. The tech giants have much to gain—or lose—from Trump’s decisions as the country’s leader, on everything from antitrust policy to deregulation on A.I.

It is unclear whether nonfederal entities will be required to adopt the new epithet, but at least some are likely to follow federal guidance, especially those bordering the Gulf, experts said. Some have proactively started using the new name, including the state of Florida, which used it in an executive order, and Port Fourchon, a major Louisiana seaport, which refers to the new moniker on its website.

Failing to honor Trump’s preference carries risks. On Tuesday, a reporter with the Associated Press was barred from a White House event after the news agency said it would keep calling the gulf by its original name, the AP said.

“Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment,” the AP said.

The Wall Street Journal has said it would generally stick with the internationally familiar name Gulf of Mexico for now—while acknowledging, as pertinent, the name Gulf of America.

The huge expanse of water has been identified on maps as the Gulf of Mexico since at least the mid-16th century, and is of cultural significance to not just the U.S. but also Cuba and Mexico.

After Trump’s announcement, Mexico’s nationalist President Claudia Sheinbaum jokingly suggested that an area encompassing Mexico and most of the U.S. be called “America Mexicana.” She said the gulf is internationally recognized as the Gulf of Mexico.

It is unclear if Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, for whom America is named, ever sailed directly through the Gulf of Mexico. In his voyages to the new world starting in the late 1400s, Vespucci sailed to Venezuela and Brazil, as well as other parts of South America and the Caribbean.

Some Gulf Coast residents and businesses said they welcomed the change.

“The waters we fish in are in the United States,” said Anthony Theriot, a 49-year-old fisherman in Cameron, La., who voted for Trump. “I always wondered why they called it that anyway,” he said of the Gulf of Mexico.

Write to Benoît Morenne at benoit.morenne@wsj.com and Collin Eaton at collin.eaton@wsj.com