Chairman Wayne Christian Commissioner of the Texas Rail Road Commission joins us In the Oil Patch radio show this week!
The railroad commission is 150 years old. For a hundred years we’ll be in regulating oil and gas production. We have nothing to do with railroads anymore.
That’s over at the Texas department of transportation, but what we do regulate is the oil and gas from the time it’s in the ground, underneath the ground, all the way through the drilling, the pipelines, getting it to the refineries. Once it hits the refineries, the railroad commission’s place stops. So we regulate all gas, coal, uranium, any mineral in the ground in Texas, and we regulate all the way until it gets to the refinery. So that’s basically the role of the Texas railroad commission.
For me, understanding how important, how much taxes are raised specifically in Texas via oil and gas, through the permitting and all the different processes pertaining to oil and gas. And you look at how strong the economy is. To me, this is why I say the Texas railroad commission is vital, that it remains one of the most important regulatory bodies and that it continues to thrive because of the fact that nothing can happen in Texas without this very, very important resource and you all are the agency that regulates the majority of it.
For every dollar the legislature expends financing to the railroad commission of Texas, we return about $51 to the state of Texas. So honestly, what makes Texas, Texas, unlike a lot of these other States that really go up and down with things in India, it’s a market.
Products are oil and gas definitely goes up and down, but all and gas has been the bedrock difference in Texas. The economy for jobs. It’s why we in Texas don’t have a state income tax, why we can have an emergency rainy day fund. All of that comes from all and gas all the way they fund the emergency fund that we have that few other States, if any have.
Correction: Kym Bolado:
For the listeners who may or may not remember this, uh, just some history years back maybe, gosh, by six sessions back, we had a different comptroller and this can happen from time to time. So I don’t want to be critical of our wonderful work that the, uh, comptrollers do. But there was a miscalculation that basically set off a problem for the state of Texas. Since most of our taxes are raised through property taxes. And at the time we had governor Rick Perry and I remember I was in a different job. You know, remember it was a healthcare setting in the, and the governor at the time required all agencies to come up with a 20% budget cut. And what we saw in Texas was a ripple effect that just shot off in ways of, from the key from our, from our educators. Uh, there were a lot that were laid off.
Our, uh, fire and EMS were on a hiring freeze. So also our law enforcement. And so in other words, oil and gas is one of the main funders of the Texas rainy day fund. And it really does, uh, blanket as if you will, from having these major, major hardships. We saw just a small fraction of it when we didn’t balance our budget because we had the wrong numbers and it, and it really had a really negative ripple effect in Texas. And so for, for our listeners, I want them to understand how really vital oil and gas is to the economy of Texas and how really important its role is. And that we must really understand, uh, the vitalist at keeping it strong here in taxes. When we returned from break from assure Christian, I wanna talk a little bit about education in oil and gas in our great state, but do you have to take a quick break?
Kym Bolado
You’re listening to in the oil patch radio show and we’ll be right back and welcome back to in the oil patch radio show. I’m your host Kim Bolado and today we are being joined by chairman Wayne Christian, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission. Wayne, before the break, we were talking about the importance to Texas in the way of oil and gas, the regulatory agency that permits and basically regulates this wonderful resource is the Texas railroad commission. Recently you were discussing, uh, education in high school for energy curriculum and I was shocked to understand that Texas doesn’t really have any education in the area of oil and gas in our public school system. Tell me, why do you think that is and what’s your position on how important it is that we put
Chairman Wayne Christian on Public Education
Since 1970 through now the EPA says the oil and gas industry, the atmosphere, the seven poisonous gases they identify in the atmosphere have decreased since 1970 by 75% at the same time, we’ve increased population in the United States by 30% and the use of cars, motors, all types of equipment have increased tremendously and yet we’re 75% less poisonous gases. Okay. Just using that is a issue that our, our public and our children are not being agitated. The only education that they have in our public school system is an optional course in agriculture, which many schools don’t teach. So a foreign representative created a curriculum that we better do some state board of vegetation and they have adopted a curriculum K through 12 on energy, just the facts of energy, all types of energy and it is available now for the first time through schools across the state of Texas book course.
Kym Bolado:
Our guest today is Chairman Wayne Christian, is one of three persons to sit in this regulatory agency that basically does all things oil and gas pertaining to Texas.
Question:
What are you thinking your thoughts are on these elected officials that are running and they’re out there touting how if they win the presidency day one they are going to pre-sign by executive order, anti fracking bans and the green new deal is being thrown out there by AOC. What are your thoughts on uh, the green new deal? How would it affect a Texas?
Chairman Wayne Christian:
Answer: Well, I authored the resolution by the 31 States that produce oil and gas asking Congress and had it passed this past year by the interstate oil and gas compact commission, which for 80 something years have represented those 31 States and I passed a resolution telling Congress, asking Congress in 31 States to have nothing that looks like a step NIF child.That’s not the legal language to the groove deal because it was totally unbiased. Sam typically and everything else. You looked also at the, uh, I remember the seven hour debate that was on CNN network for every one of the candidates for the most important position on planet earth. The president United States lifted their hands and says, keep it in the ground. If I’m president and you’re sitting here and understanding, okay, the good Lord gave us, I’m just looking at history. You see back in world war one, up in by Fort worth, but after Baytown had the first of Spindletop discovery, but several months later, big discovery the head and they exported enough gas to world war one back in 1917 that the folks over in world war one at Eastland County called the roaring ranger production when armistice was signed in 1918, a member of the British war cabinet declared the allied calls, floated the victory on a wave of oil and that was from central Texas.We’re war to seven 8 billion barrels of old when the war came to the United States. Two thirds of the all and Winston Churchill at the end of world war II says, the world was run on a sea of East Texas oil. Today we just got food looking at Iran, this shot missiles, uh, into Iraq, our military base. We looked at the greatest threat when Saudi Arabia had some drones that, uh, whoever I ran, whoever blew up the largest refinery, Saudi Arabia had what happened in the market years ago. You’d have seen all grew up at the, I mean, gasoline go up at the tight box. Gosh, a dollar a gallon. What happened? It went down a month later from the Saudi Arabia trend on the muscle from our end to hit our rack. You saw it when the next day [inaudible] prices went down. A dollar a barrel. Why? Because for the first time in 70 years, the United States energy independent is energy dominant as president Trump would say.
Because I don’t think a lot of listeners might understand why that happened. Well, it happened because we hit the free market industry going led by the energy, uh, of, of the, the oil and gas industry in America. It has grown that time and an another thing, understand here, here’s the future and why Iran when you don’t want to worry about that gas pass and we don’t worry about all the Saudi Arabian respiring going down. Our gas passes didn’t even blow up a dollar or a penny hardly. The reason is three years ago, the interim amount of available oil and gas reserves in the United States was 40 billion barrels in West Texas alone. The first estimate was 20 billion barrels. Second estimate was 44 billion. Now they’ve increased it to 88 billion and I was in West Texas less than three months ago and they told me it’s over 200 billion. I go to Houston and the man said, no, you’re wrong. Wine. Our staff has estimated up projection of 230 billion barrels, a ball that is six times the amount of total all reserves before we discovered this West Texas oil. Now what are we going to do with it? And you’ve got president your credit sink. Keep it in the ground. Well, it’s not only that
Kym Bolado:
Question:
What are your thoughts on, uh, the cities that are doing these green new deals and how do you think that’s gonna work out?
Chairman Wayne Christian
Answer:
Well, it’s already proven itself. I think in Round rock, Texas, they went on that agreement, new deal routine. And the taxpayers there are in revolution because of the increased cost of energy, wind and solar pounds, which is what they’re tying to, that’s going to replace all gas and coal are pied back tax payer dollars that can’t exist without subsidies. Whereas all gas, it provided 85% of the energy during the, the seven hour debate by the president. You can see, and then I referenced before every one of them when asked, is the United States responsible for this climate change problem that we see in the world and the [inaudible] problem and all. They said, well, no, but we’re, we’re only 15% of the world and that’s exactly why the Paris accord is such a crazy thing. Every one of those people that are for keeping in the ground raised their hand said, well, the United States is not the problem.
It’s the rest of the world. You look at the Paris accord and for the first, I mean I would ask you what your listeners would they if they were gamblers and most aren’t, but if they were and they were like a deal, would they, would they put 100 bucks on what the weather man tells them today is going to be the weather tomorrow as compared to what is really going to be the result of it? If we get an airplane, you have to estimate what the change has been for the last hour in the weather in hurting many a times. They don’t know till it hits the shore. What the hurricane is going to be. Full force is going to be what category? And we’re wanting to spend $78 trillion in the Paris accord for a bunch of [inaudible] of environmental groups that have come up with. They potentially can keep a temperature over the next 30 years within 1.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
And I’m thinking number one, who cares if it goes up 1.7 degrees, let’s just put more power into better air conditioners or better heaters. But number two, what difference is 1.7 degrees in a B and flux, the chances that happening, and third 78 trillion with a T on it dollars, which most of it will come. Bobbie countries of America, Europeans, none of it from the wounds causing the pollution, which is China and Russia. So in Africa you’ve got all these factors going on. So Donald Trump was exactly, what is it? It’s an insane situation that we bought into through the former administration that is totally missed every scientific basis you can think of with Paris court
How did they go away? They just disappear.
No, it’s because the industry has done the right thing in oil and gas and coal and automotive and all industries have cleaned the environment.
But you never hear our industry bragging on that. What frustrates me is you see television commercials from big energy companies that don’t say, look how we’ve clued made the world better. Make the United States better clean things up. Even though we’ve increased the usage. No, they’re, they’re bragging on stuff like Al juice, the future of energy in America, which is insanity. And you have many of these oil and gas companies sitting back and saying, let’s go along with the Paris accord and the carbon tax. Not because they don’t believe it. They know they’ve got 85% of the energy cause windmills and solar panels can never produce as many as you put in there coming from States with money over 15% of the energy needs of Americans in the world.
So the energy companies got 85% prop of the market. They know so they, they got their split and made. So really I see my anger is the dis concerned, not concerned for the consumer out there more and Paul and a pickup truck getting gasoline. A lot of our big energy companies aren’t standing up for them. They’re surrendering the Paris accord folks into other folks to make it politically correct. That concerns. You’re right. I do remember as a child these things were in place and they have gone away and it is because we have gotten greener and we’re doing things better the industry, but let’s just face it back. Without energy we cannot sustain life. It is that vital. It is a wonderful thing to have. We enjoy our life and our air conditioning and our heating, but really people need to think of is 1900 Texas 85 some of the folks in agriculture, you had deaths because of freezing to death, lack of food, starvation.
These were some brief highlights of our interview with Chairman Wayne Christian of the Texas Rail Road Commission.
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