RRC Commissioner Calls Attention to Anti-Hydraulic Fracturing Campaign

Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) commissioner David Porter has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry questioning the extent the U.S. Department of State is enforcing sanctions against the financial arm of a Russian oil and gas monopoly, and thereby protecting U.S. interests. A bank affiliated with Gazprom has hired former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and former Sen. John Breaux to lobby against U.S. sanctions.

“Gazprom Bank is currently under U.S. sanctions as a result of Russia’s role in shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which resulted in the death of 283 passengers, 15 crew members, and at least one American citizen,” Porter said in his letter. “I am greatly concerned that a blacklisted, government-owned Russian bank is able to continue its campaign to weaken the American oil and gas industry and to hire two former United States senators to exert pressure on American policymakers.”

Porter explains that Gazprom has secured contracts worth tens of millions of dollars with several international public relations and lobbying firms, including New York City-based Ketchum Inc., in an effort to “damage and shut down” the natural gas industry in Europe and the U.S. in order to increase Russian market share and distribution. Components of the campaign include funding anti-hydraulic fracturing environmental organizations, placing misinformation before the public, and generating mass media propaganda, Porter charges, namely by assiting distribution of the documentary “Gasland,” which the commissioner characterizes as a “deceitful film” about hydraulic fracturing.

“Gazprom’s effort, with the assistance of the Kremlin and Ketchum, has already resulted in the ban of hydraulic fracturing in many EU countries, and now they have their sights set on the U.S.,” Porter asserted. He added he is in the process of developing strategies to blunt the disinformation campaign, including encouraging Congress to streamline the permitting process to build LNG plants in Texas and allow oil exports.