Ex-chief of interior touts new role in oil sector
Zinke now an adviser after embattled post
Months after resigning from the Trump administration cabinet amid multiple ethics investigations, Ryan Zinke, who opened more public lands to oil and gas drilling, has established a new career in the oil and gas industry.
The former secretary of the interior has emerged as an adviser and business strategist for the energy companies with a specialty in finding overseas markets to absorb record U.S. production of natural gas. During a Wednesday visit to Houston, Zinke spoke candidly about President Donald Trump, his two years as interior secretary, his resignation in December and his new career as well as risks and opportunities for the industry. The former Navy SEAL and Montana congressman is advising the Houston exploration and production company Oasis Petroleum and Addison pipeline distributor Cressman Tubulars, among others.
Working with another group of business officials, Zinke is expect
ed to travel to Turkey next week where he will meet with potential buyers of U.S. liquefied natural gas. Drilling for crude oil in the Permian Basin and other shale plays has also produced record amounts of low-cost natural gas prices and a lack pipelines to get it to market, means that much of it gets burned away in an industry practice known as flaring.
“I’m not an advocate for flaring,” said Zinke, who describes himself as a conservationist. “Flaring is wasteful. I think that finding beneficial uses for that gas is important. We need to develop foreign markets for our gas. The level of flaring, even in Texas, is unsustainable.”
As secretary of interior, Zinke was criticized by environmentalists for opening more public lands to mining and drilling for oil and natural gas. He also came under investigation for a number of alleged ethics violations involving his travel and personal business dealings, including a real estate investment by then-Halliburton chairman Dave Lesar.
Critics saw Lesar’s investment as an attempt to curry favor with Zinke at a time he had the power to benefit Halliburton’s hydraulic fracturing operations on public lands in the western states. Zinke has always denied any wrongdoing but resigned from his cabinet post in December.
“I went through 15 investigations as interior secretary,” Zinke told attendees of Shale Magazine’s State of Energy luncheon. “Everyone one of them lead to the same conclusion: that I followed the rules and policy.”
Zinke remains a staunch Trump supporter. The former Montana congressman was an architect of the Trump administration’s energy dominance policy, which seeks to make the United States the top producer and provider of crude oil, natural gas and refined products in the world.
When Trump took office, the United States was producing 8 million barrels of crude oil per day. Today, output exceeds 12 million barrels per day. And the United States is poised to become a net energy exporter.
“The president is the most unique we’ve ever had,” Zinke said, “He says what’s exactly what’s on his mind. In some ways, he’s the most transparent president we’ve ever had.”