Interview and recap of Commissioner Christi Craddick is by The Crude Life Content Correspondent Genneca Houser.
Craddick is one of three commissioners at the Texas Railroad Commission, and she is also the longest serving of the three to this elected position. We were lucky enough to get some time with Commissioner Craddick to recap the last year and catch a glimpse of what she anticipates to come.
–We
begin with Chairman Craddick breaking down a little bit of history and
information about the Texas Railroad Commission. They are the oldest oil
and gas regulators in the world, and they’re based in Texas. They focus
on pipelines and pipeline safety, and there are roughly 470,000 miles
of interstate and intrastate lines in Texas and roughly another 500,000
miles of gas utilities lines in Texas to maintain. They also do coal,
coal mines, lignite mines, and uranium mines; so, needless to say, it’s a
big job to maintain safety. They also regulate carbon capturing in
Texas oil fields. Production wise, about a 3rd of the country’s oil and a
4th of the country’s gas is coming out of Texas.“I
think we’ve got one of the best agencies in the entire state, and
frankly probably [one of] the best agencies is the entire country when
you talk about oil and gas regulations.” – Commissioner Christi Craddick
(1:13)
– To prevent waste and to protect the environment
are the top two priorities of the agency. Commissioner Craddick talks
about the idea that having rules and regulations is one of the best ways
to make sure that the practices in the field maintain the safety
practices. There are about 150 inspectors for the oil and gas division,
approximately 30 people inspecting the coal and coal mines, and around
70 inspectors in the pipeline division and they’re out in the field
everyday to help make sure everyone is in compliance with the rules and
regulations. The idea isn’t to over-regulate, though; once something is
found not in compliance, there is an opportunity to fix the issue before
fines and penalties are given. There’s also a great many resources
found on the website so that everyone has an opportunity to be in
compliance. Everyone does get opportunities to operate within the rules
and regulations; but if there’s a refusal to play by the rules, the
Texas Railroad Commission will shut the operation down.
– Next we discuss the impacts of climate activism on
the Texas oil and gas industry and how it has put a spotlight on
flaring in Texas. This has been an on-going challenge that will
hopefully continue to see progression. A goal is to build the
infrastructure so that flaring won’t be necessary.There is also a desire
to update the systems and upgrade the data that is gathered in the
field. “There is no magic answer” as Commissioner Craddick says, but the
industry is changing and progressing and there will most likely
continue to be an on-going conversation on how to work with companies to
implement the best practices.
“Flaring is a priority to find out how we do it better
and how we do a lot less of it in this state. We’ve talked about it a
lot in the last 18 months in Texas.” – Commissioner Craddick (11:00)
– After going from all-time highs in 2019, then
there was the trade dispute in the Middle East and Covid. So, mid-March
2020, there was talk about the possibility of prorationing for the first
time since the 1970s. What this would do is nix the free market and
make it mandatory for businesses to only produce what was “rationed” to
