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Texas to form state energy council; energy plan next
The Associated Press
Declining crude oil production in Texas is prompting a re-examination of alternative energy sources, the state’s top energy chief says.
Victor Carrillo’s statewide energy policy would feature a blend of incentives to encourage oil and natural gas exploration and development and exploitation and redevelopment.
Accompanied by Carrillo, Gov. Rick Perry was scheduled to sign an executive order creating the Texas Energy Planning Council on Nov. 10 at the Petroleum Museum in Midland.
The council will work with the Clean Coal Technology Council toward the development of cleaner forms of energy, the governor’s office said in a prepared statement. First step in creating Texas energy plan Carrillo, Texas Railroad Commission chairman, last month urged creation of the council as the first step in creating a Texas energy plan. The Railroad Commission is the state agency that regulates the energy industry.
Producers in the nation’s top oil-producing state are caught on a “constant treadmill” trying to satisfy ever-increasing demand for fossil fuels with supplies that have been dwindling since the early 1970s, Carrillo told participants at the Permian Basin Petroleum Association’s annual meeting in Midland last month after sending his proposal to Perry.
With Texas crude oil production dropping at about 5 percent per year, it’s a “critical time” in the state’s history, Carrillo said.
“We can’t sit idly by. The time for action is now for a comprehensive, coordinated effort to find ways to find and produce new reserves,” said Carrillo, who has announced his intentions to create an energy plan for the state.
It would maintain existing production incentives and create new ones, support advancements in exploration and production technologies and encourage energy conservation.
“Conservation is an important aspect of the mix,” Carrillo said.
He urged that the plan include development of the renewable energy sector, but not at the expense of traditional energy sources.
“Texas has the largest renewable energy potential in the United States, but (renewables) won’t replace the need for conventional energy sources anytime soon,” Carrillo said.
He has said he believes that it’s his duty as chairman to keep Texas’ energy industry “strong for decades to come.”
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