Oddly named and highly powerful, the Texas Railroad Commission is weighing whether the state should curb crude production for the first time in almost half a century. At issue is one of the worst price collapses in decades, which has left the Texas oil and gas industry in tatters. Unusual for a state-level agency, the commission suddenly finds itself integral to national and even international energy policy.
Despite its name, the three-member commission no longer oversees the state’s rail system. It was established in the 1890s to regulate private railroads, terminals, wharfs and express companies. That mandate grew to include oil and gas in 1919. Its oversight of railroads was gradually transferred elsewhere within state government, with the Texas Department of Transportation taking the last of the rail functions in 2005. Today the commission has a reputation for being a lenient regulator of the state’s oil and gas industry, which raked in $138 billion last year. Producers needs permits from the commission to drill and operate wells.