HOUSTON—The Trump administration will be loaded with allies of the oil and gas industry and of Texas, the state’s lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, told an industry trade group on Jan. 6.
“Putting partisan politics aside, the good news for Texas is we no longer have an enemy in the White House,” Patrick told members of the Texas Pipeline Association at its annual meeting just one day after garnering national attention for his support of Senate Bill 6, the Texas Privacy Act, commonly referred to as the “bathroom bill.”
Patrick was particularly optimistic about the president-elect’s nominations of E. Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general, to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry as secretary of energy.
Pruitt “will do what we in Texas would like for [the EPA] to do and that is, stay out of our way and let us go about our business and grow our economy,” he said. The state filed 46 lawsuits against the federal government during the eight years of the Obama administration, Patrick said, with 25 of those suits against the EPA, according to a Texas Tribune analysis.
Of those 25 suits, brought by former Attorney General Greg Abbott (now the governor) and current Attorney General Ken Paxton, the state won four and lost 10. Nine of the suits are still pending and two were withdrawn, the Tribune said.
“My guess is we won’t be filing any lawsuits for the next four years, maybe eight years,” Patrick said. “Just the fact that we can conduct our business in Texas without government overreach and interference on so many issues is really important in the amount of time we spend, in the amount of money we spend, in the amount of energy we spend in fighting our own federal government. It was a distraction and not helpful for anyone.”
Patrick’s perception of Donald Trump’s presidential style is as a CEO who is prepared to delegate.
“I think Rick Perry is going to have a lot of power,” he said. “I think Mike Pence as vice president is going to have a lot more power than any other vice president has had. I see him as getting the right people and he’s going to let them do their job. If they don’t do their job, then he fires them, literally.”
Oil and gas is the backbone of the Texas economy, Patrick said several times during his remarks. The very tight budget that the legislature is wrestling with this session can be attributed to low energy commodity prices that have hampered the state’s economy.
“You have a pro-oil and gas state, you have a pro-oil and gas lieutenant governor,” he told TPA members. “I understand that this industry is the backbone of our state, is the backbone of our country. And so, we’re going to protect it.”
Joseph Markman can be reached at jmarkman@hartenergy.com and @JHMarkman.
Recommended Reading
US Drillers Cut Most Oil Rigs in a Week Since November
2024-04-26 - The number of oil rigs fell by five to 506 this week, while gas rigs fell by one to 105, their lowest since December 2021.
Exxon Mobil, Chevron See Profits Fall in 1Q Earnings
2024-04-26 - Chevron and Exxon Mobil are feeling the pinch of weak energy prices, particularly natural gas, and fuels margins that have cooled in the last year.
Apollo to Buy, Take Private U.S. Silica in $1.85B Deal
2024-04-26 - Apollo will purchase U.S. Silica Holdings at a time when service companies are responding to rampant E&P consolidation by conducting their own M&A.
Marathon Oil Declares 1Q Dividend
2024-04-26 - Marathon Oil’s first quarter 2024 dividend is payable on June 10.
No Silver Bullet: Chevron, Shell on Lower-carbon Risks, Collaboration
2024-04-26 - Helping to scale lower-carbon technologies, while meeting today’s energy needs and bringing profits, comes with risks. Policy and collaboration can help, Chevron and Shell executives say.