OIL EMPIRE: Exposing financial ties between the Texas Railroad Commissioner & the gas/oil industry

Описание: COMING WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT: DIG, DIG, AND KEEP DIGGING...

11 months ago we got a tip into the office that—on the surface—didn’t seem to be that big of a deal. As with all tips, I like to see where they go. Sometimes they go nowhere, but it’s always good research practice and you always learn something you didn’t know before you started, even if it never produces a news report.

Then this one came.

At this point 11 months ago, despite living in Texas for a few months, I’d never seen a pump jack or anything to do with the gas and oil industry. Sorting out how it’s regulated is like learning a new language. But something made me and our investigative producer, David Barer, executive producer Josh Hinkle, and our photographer Ben Friberg keep researching this tip and learning more and more about how Texas gas/oil records are kept and how some powerful Texas politicians are making money off that business. Then, it all started to make sense to us.

Long story short, 11 months later, after my KXAN investigates team & I spent months researching this project and spending hours out in west Texas courthouses and west Texas oil fields, we’re about to expose how one of the most power Texas political families is financially connected to the industry they regulate from Austin.