Chris Wright: An Energy Secretary Nominee Who Actually Knows Energy

[Note: I wrote this story at Forbes 3 years ago following a wide-ranging interview with Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright. In addition to being something of an innovative genius in the oilfield services arena, Wright has also been one of the most outspoken advocates for the domestic and global oil and gas industry over the past decade. Though this piece is a little dated, the information about Wright contained in it might give readers a better sense of the man, and why he is likely to become the best Energy Secretary America has ever had. Enjoy.]

A former colleague in the oil and gas business asked me the other day why I have invested so much time and energy this year interviewing and writing about executives and companies in the rare earth minerals and renewable energy space. I told him that there were two simple reasons for this: 1) I wanted to increase my knowledge base about this growing sector of the energy business, and couldn’t figure out a better way to do that than by interviewing the leaders in it; and 2) those executives will actually talk to me.

One of the truly odd aspects about being a contributor for Forbes.com has been the fact that most CEOs and other senior executives in the oil and gas business won’t talk on the record to me, a guy who spent his entire career in that same business. This is especially true related to their companies’ efforts in the realm of ESG (Environment, Social and Governance), where they have received so much pressure to perform from investors and customers in recent years. If that seems like a missed opportunity to you, well, welcome to the party.

One oil and gas CEO I did not have that problem with is Chris Wright, the CEO of Liberty Oilfield Services. He’s so happy to talk about what his company is doing related to ESG and fracking that he actually sought me out. Talk about a different kind of senior executive, here he is.