Jim Wright, a Republican seeking a seat on a board that regulates the Texas energy industry, knows the agency intimately. He ought to. He’s paid it $181,000 in fines.
Wright, a 58-year-old bullrider-turned-rancher and oil-field service company owner, is seeking a key post overseeing an industry that pumps more oil than any OPEC member except Saudi Arabia. Environmentalists support Castañeda, a 57-year-old Dallas energy attorney who once represented billionaire T. Boone Pickens. She’s running on a platform of cracking down on industry waste, strengthening regulation and tackling the flaring of natural gas.
Texas became the center of the shale boom in recent years, transforming the U.S. into the world’s biggest crude producer and establishing it as a leading exporter. Despite this year’s plunge in prices and a corresponding drop in output, the state remains a major player on international markets, one eyed warily by other oil-rich nations. That outsize role also means the commission attracts more scrutiny than any other equivalent state agency. As oil crashed amid the pandemic, some industry figures suggested it could coordinate production cuts.