Minerals Management Service director named

Rejane ‘Johnnie’ Burton of Wyoming tapped to head MMS; varied background includes executive position with Casper oil and gas company

Petroleum News Alaska

Rejane Medinger ‘Johnnie’ Burton of Wyoming has been named director of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service.

In announcing the appointment Feb. 7, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton said: “Ms. Burton has the background and professional qualifications that are critical to this challenging position. Johnnie is the right person, at the right time, to lead this agency and the vital role it will play in helping the nation focus on its energy-related challenges.”

Since 1995, Burton has served on the governor of Wyoming’s cabinet as director of the Department of Revenue. From 1989-92 she was vice president of TCF Inc., an oil and gas exploration company based in Casper, Wyo.

Prior to that, she was vice president of Dwights Energydata Inc., an information company specializing in oil and gas databases. Burton was also president and founder of Hotline Energy Reports Inc., which later merged with Dwights. Burton began her career in the oil and gas industry as an oil scout in Casper, Wyo., for Rinehart Oil News.

Burton was a member of the Wyoming State House of Representatives from 1982-1988.

“I am excited about leading the Minerals Management Service at this critical time,” Burton said in a statement. “I look forward to the challenges of this very important position.”

Born in French Algeria, Burton immigrated to the United States in 1963 and became an American citizen in 1968. In 1958, she completed the Baccalaureat de l’Enseignement Secondaire in Algiers. She completed the Licence-es-Lettres, English, Diplome d’Enseignment from the Universities of Algiers in Algeria and in Paris, France, in 1962. She earned a masters degree in 1974 from the University of Wyoming.

Burton has two grown children.