RAILROAD COMMISSION OF TEXAS
NEWS RELEASE - MAY 30, 2007

U.S. Secretary of Energy Appoints Commissioner Victor G. Carrillo to Unconventional Resources Technology Advisory Committee

AUSTIN, May 30, 2007— Commissioner Victor G. Carrillo of the Texas Railroad Commission has been appointed by Samuel W. Bodman, U.S. Secretary of Energy, to the Department of Energy's Unconventional Resources Technology Advisory Committee (URTAC). URTAC was established in response to provisions of Subtitle J, Sec. 999 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  

Comprised of 23 members, URTAC will advise the Secretary of Energy on development and implementation of programs related to onshore unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resources.  This includes carrying out a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application of technologies for onshore unconventional natural gas and other petroleum resource exploration and production, including addressing the technology challenges for small producers, safe operations, and environmental mitigation.

“I am honored to serve on this important national committee. Enhancing domestic unconventional gas resources is critically important to enhance national energy security,” said Carrillo. “Domestic unconventional resources like the Texas Barnett Shale, along with ultra-deepwater resources like the Lower Tertiary trend in the Gulf Coast, represent America’s best hope of supplying our growing energy demands while decreasing our reliance on foreign energy sources. The more oil and natural gas we explore for and produce in our own backyard, the less we have to import.”  

Commissioner Carrillo, who has degrees in petroleum geology and law, helps to lead the state agency that oversees the Texas energy sector -- the oil and gas, pipeline and surface mining industries. He has served as Chairman of the Texas Energy Planning Council that created a Texas Energy Plan to help ensure that Texas remains the premier energy producing state in the nation. Carrillo is the current Chairman of the Outer Continental Shelf Policy Committee -- an advisory group to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission – a national organization representing the Governors of oil and gas producing states.  

A native of Abilene, Texas, Victor Carrillo joined the Texas Railroad Commission in February 2003. In 2004, he won his first statewide election with almost four million votes and secured a six-year term of office through 2010. He has worked as a geologist, geophysicist, college professor, attorney and judge. He was previously elected to the Abilene City Council and as Taylor County Judge.