Midland County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2020, the population was 169,983. The county seat is Midland. The county is so named for being halfway (midway) between Fort Worth and El Paso on the Texas and Pacific Railway. Midland County is included in the Midland, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the Midland–Odessa Combined Statistical Area.
Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a major center for American oil and natural gas production.
Kenneth Michael Conaway is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for Texas's 11th congressional district from 2005 to 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district Conaway represented is located in West Texas and includes Midland, Odessa, San Angelo, Brownwood, and Granbury. Conaway led the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections after the Intelligence Committee chair, Devin Nunes, recused himself. Aside from serving as the chair of the House Ethics Committee, he served as the chair of the House Agriculture Committee, and later its ranking member. Conaway indicated in July 2019 that he would not be seeking reelection. Conaway was succeeded by fellow Republican August Pfluger.
Douglas Todd Staples is the President of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, the oldest and largest oil and gas trade association in Texas representing all facets of the industry including production, pipelines, refineries and export facilities. Staples is the former two-term Texas Commissioner of Agriculture and served with distinction in the Texas Senate and House of Representatives for 12 years. He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in 2014.
The Barnett Shale is a geological formation located in the Bend Arch-Fort Worth Basin. It consists of sedimentary rocks dating from the Mississippian period in Texas. The formation underlies the city of Fort Worth and underlies 5,000 mi2 (13,000 km2) and at least 17 counties.
Thomas Russell Craddick is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives representing the 82nd district. Craddick was Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives from January 2003 to January 2009. He was the first Republican to serve as Speaker since Reconstruction.
The Railroad Commission of Texas is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and surface coal and uranium mining. Despite its name, it ceased regulating railroads in 2005, when the last of the rail functions were transferred to the Texas Department of Transportation.
Michael Lawrence Williams is an American educator and attorney who is the former Education Commissioner of the U.S. state of Texas, in which capacity he was leader of the Texas Education Agency. Williams was appointed to the position on August 27, 2012, by then Governor Rick Perry. On October 15, 2015, Williams announced that he would step down as Education Commissioner at the end of the year to return to the private sector.
Kelton Gray Seliger, known as Kel Seliger, is a former Republican member of the Texas State Senate for District 31, which stretches from the Panhandle south to the Permian Basin.
Petroleum has been a major industry in the United States since the 1859 Pennsylvania oil rush around Titusville, Pennsylvania. Commonly characterized as "Big Oil", the industry includes exploration, production, refining, transportation, and marketing of oil and natural gas products. The leading crude oil-producing areas in the United States in 2023 were Texas, followed by the offshore federal zone of the Gulf of Mexico, North Dakota and New Mexico.
Carl Michael "Mike" Smith is an American businessman, energy expert, and politician from Oklahoma. Smith is currently serving as the executive director of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. Smith has served in numerous energy policy positions for both the United States federal and Oklahoma state governments, including Assistant Secretary of Energy for Fossil Energy under President George W. Bush (2002–2004) and Oklahoma Secretary of Energy under Governor of Oklahoma Frank Keating (1995–2002).
William Hose Flores Sr. is an American businessman, the Vice Chair of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), as well as the interim Chair of ERCOT.
Walter Wayne Christian is an American politician and financial planner who has served as a member of the Railroad Commission of Texas since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Christian formerly served in the Texas House of Representatives for the 9th district, which included Jasper, Nacogdoches, Sabine, San Augustine, and Shelby counties in East Texas.
Barry Thomas Smitherman is an American lawyer who served as a member and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 to 2015. A Republican, he was appointed to the commission on July 8, 2011 by then Governor Rick Perry to fill a vacant post; on February 28, 2012 he was elected chairman of the commission, which regulates not railroads but the Texas oil and gas industry.
Hector Steven Garcia, known as H. S. "Buddy" Garcia, is a former interim member of the Texas Railroad Commission, the elected body which regulates the oil and natural gas industries in Texas. Garcia was appointed to the commission by Governor Rick Perry on April 12, 2012, to replace Elizabeth Ames Jones, who resigned to run unsuccessfully for the Texas State Senate. Garcia's appointment expired a few days after the November 6 general election, and he was succeeded by fellow Republican Christi Craddick, who defeated a Democrat, Dale Henry, to claim the position for six years. Craddick is the daughter of the former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Tom Craddick of Midland.
Charles Ray Matthews is a former member and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission and the chancellor-emeritus of the Texas State University System. Based in Austin, Texas, his service on the Railroad Commission extended from 1995 to 2005; as chancellor, from 2005 to 2010.
The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC),< formerly the Interstate Oil Compact Commission, is a United States organization, representing the governors of 31 member and seven associate states, that works to ensure the nation's oil and natural gas resources are conserved and utilized to their maximum potential while protecting health, safety and the environment.
Christi Leigh Craddick is an American politician. She is one of three members of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the elected regulatory body over oil, natural gas, utilities, and surface mining first established in 1891. She is a Republican. The commission ended all controls over railroads in 2005 but is still known as the "Railroad Commission" for historical reasons.
Ryan Christopher Sitton is an American politician affiliated with the Republican Party. He was a member of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2015 to 2021.
James "Jim" Wright is an American businessman and politician who has served as a member of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the elected regulatory body over oil, natural gas, utilities, and surface mining, since 2021. A Republican, Wright owns environmental services companies.
