President-elect Donald Trump has picked U.S. frac pressure-pumping leader Chris Wright to be U.S. energy secretary in the second Trump administration.

Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social account. “Chris has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in energy. He has worked in nuclear, solar, geothermal and oil and gas,” Trump posted.

Hart Energy broke the news Nov. 12 that Wright, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, was shale wildcatter and energy-policy influencer Harold Hamm’s top choice for the Department of Energy (DOE) post.

Hamm had also told Hart Energy that North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, 68, could be a choice for the DOE position but “there's so much more he could do.”

Trump picked Burgum on Nov. 15 to be Interior Secretary instead and chairman of a newly formed National Energy Council. The council “will consist of all departments and agencies involved in the permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation [and] transportation of all forms of American energy,” Trump wrote.

He added in the Wright announcement that Wright will be a member of the council.

Scott Sheffield, who was chairman of the largest Permian producer, Pioneer Natural Resources, until its sale this year to Exxon Mobil for $64.5 billion, told Hart Energy upon the Wright news, “Chris Wright is the perfect choice and well qualified to lead our nation’s energy issues going forward as secretary of the Department of Energy.

“Chris will be the first fossil fuel expert that this nation has ever had in that role, especially with the country reaching record levels as the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas.”

Bud Brigham, who, like Hamm and Sheffield, was also early to shale wildcatting, told Hart Energy, “I’m thrilled about Chris Wright’s appointment as secretary of energy. His visionary leadership and commitment to innovation will undoubtedly drive us closer to true energy independence.”

Brigham, who leads a major frac-sand services company, Atlas Sand, added, “With a focus on harnessing all forms of energy efficiently and sustainably, he’s poised to revolutionize how we power our lives.

“Under his guidance, we can expect policies that not only ensure energy security but also uplift communities, foster economic growth and enhance quality of life. This is a pivotal moment for humanity, and I’m confident his tenure will lead to a flourishing future for all.“

The Barnett breakthrough

An MIT engineering graduate, Wright, 59, was part of a mid-1990s team that tried a slickwater frac in a Union Pacific Resources Group well in the Cotton Valley in East Texas that contributed to George Mitchell’s Barnett shale-gas breakthrough in the Fort Worth Basin.

The frac—virtually all water—reduced well costs compared to the expensive amounts of gel that had been typical in cracking tight rock and distributing proppant at the time.

Trump posted in his announcement, “Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American shale revolution that fueled American energy independence and transformed the global energy markets and geopoltics.”

Hamm, who led Continental Resources from one well-service truck in the 1960s to a more than $10 billion E&P today, said Wright is “one of the most articulate people that I know of in energy and from our industry.”

“He’s a really, really sharp individual and can do a good job [as DOE secretary].”

Wright often presents at industry and generalist programs on the advantages of fossil fuels in lifting the world’s population out of poverty and in improving health and quality of life. He is a founding board member of the Bettering Human Lives Foundation.

A Colorado native, Wright’s official bio at the Liberty website is “a self-described tech nerd turned entrepreneur and a dedicated humanitarian on a mission to better human lives by expanding access to abundant, affordable and reliable energy.”

After receiving his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, Wright did graduate work in electrical engineering at UC Berkeley and MIT.

His frac-mapping company Pinnacle Technologies, which he founded in 1992, was part of the waterfrac tests in the Cotton Valley. He sold the company to Carbo Ceramics in 2002.

He held the chairman post at Barnett developer Stroud Energy, which was sold to Range Resources in 2006.

He co-founded Liberty Energy, formerly known as Liberty Oilfield Services, in 2011 and was also executive chairman of Bakken- and Powder River Basin-focused E&P Liberty Resources, which he co-founded in 2010.

He is on the board of small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) developer Oklo Inc.,  global mining royalties company EMX Royalty Corp. and noise-mitigation company Urban Solution Group.

Liberty introduced its patented Liberty Quiet Fleet of frac spreads in 2016.

CO2 sequestration

Hamm, whose Continental was catapulted into a multi-billion-dollar company when it was early to the Bakken shale play in the Williston Basin, is working with Burgum on a plan to sequester midwestern U.S. CO2 in the state.

The Summit Carbon Solutions project’s planned path through South Dakota has been stymied by a federal judge, however, who ruled recently that CO2 is not a commodity, thus pipeline development cannot claim eminent domain.

Burgum was among speakers at a summit Hamm hosted in 2023 in Oklahoma City at the Hamm Institute for American Energy. Other speakers included Nikki Haley, who was also a presidential candidate at the time; former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; and former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.

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