Oil Company CEO Sees Trump Cabinet Picks As Good For All Businesses

<p>A former Texas governor, the CEO of a Texas-based oil company and our Oklahoma Attorney General are on President-elect Donald Trump's list of nominees for high-level positions.</p>

Tuesday, December 13th 2016, 11:18 pm

By: News On 6

Oil Company CEO Sees Trump Cabinet Picks As Good For All Businesses

A former Texas governor, the CEO of a Texas-based oil company and our Oklahoma Attorney General are on President-elect Donald Trump's list of nominees for high-level positions.

The three nominees do have large ties to the oil and gas industry, but, the Laredo Petroleum CEO said the men will help business and tackle regulation.

Rex Tillerson, the outgoing CEO of Exxon Mobil, is already seen by many in the oil industry as a person who can make deals for his company on a world stage - a perfect fit for the country's top diplomat.

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry, an Energy Transfer Partners board member, is viewed by energy sector leaders as someone with experience leading a state rich with oil and wind resources.

Oil executives view Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's nomination a strong one because of Pruitt's fight to stop federal regulatory overreach.

CEO Randy Foutch has Laredo Petroleum headquartered in Tulsa and drilling operations in Texas.

"We view it as while they have oil and gas expertise, we view it as broadly very, very, qualified people," Foutch said.

Lawmakers like Senator Jim Inhofe, who initially supported Governor Perry's run for president, support the efforts by Trump and his transition team.

"Everyone he has so far, you can see why he was a success because he doesn't depend on his own background in these things, he gets the right people and listens to them," Inhofe said.

Even though Foutch runs an oil company, he said the nominees are good for all businesses.

"We need to get into a little bit of a mode where we understand the consequences of regulation,” he said. “Maybe the regulation is very good. Maybe it's exactly what we needed, but we need to have a debate about the consequences of those regulations."

These three picks by the president-elect will still need to be vetted and confirmed by the United States Senate.