America is at an energy crossroads.
For years, the Obama and Biden administrations layered on a steady stream of malicious regulations, permitting delays, and compliance mandates that made it harder to produce American energy. While President Donald Trump works to roll back much of that, the reality is that producers have spent decades trying to keep up with an ever-expanding federal regulatory machine, and it’s taken its toll.
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To address some of that, Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) and Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) have both introduced the Protect Domestic Oil and Gas Small Business Act in their respective chambers. Their legislation, if passed, would create a more targeted compliance framework for small and marginal oil and gas producers. Their idea is simple: a family-owned operator running a handful of wells should not be regulated the same way as a multinational company operating thousands.
One of the clearest examples is methane regulation under the Clean Air Act. In practice, these rules often apply the same monitoring, reporting, and equipment standards to low-producing marginal wells as they do to major industrial facilities. That is not targeted regulation. It is a one-size-fits-all approach that does not reflect how this industry works.
All of that red tape adds up. Paperwork, consultants, equipment upgrades, and permitting delays might be manageable for large operators, but for small producers, they can mean the difference between staying in business and shutting in a well for good.
At the same time, demand for energy continues to grow, and it is not slowing down. Meeting that demand requires production from everyone: major companies, independent operators, and small family-run producers who keep marginal wells producing long after others have walked away.
In Texas, those marginal wells still matter. They support jobs, generate tax revenue, and help keep rural communities alive. Individually, they may not produce much, but collectively they remain an important part of our energy supply. When regulations push those wells out of production, the impact extends far beyond the lease and into local economies.
That is exactly why the Protect Domestic Oil and Gas Small Business Act matters. It recognizes that not every well is the same and not every operator should be treated the same. There should be a distinction between large-scale industrial facilities and marginal wells where compliance costs can easily exceed production value.
The Clean Air Act framework was built around large stationary sources, not hundreds of thousands of low-volume wells spread across states such as Texas. That mismatch matters because regulations do not operate in isolation. They accumulate over time, adding compliance costs, paperwork, monitoring requirements, and operational burdens that disproportionately weigh on small producers.
ESG ISN’T DYING. IT’S GETTING VOTED OUT
Large operators can often spread those costs across thousands of wells. A family-owned producer operating a handful of marginal wells cannot. When compliance costs exceed the value of production, wells are shut in, investment shifts elsewhere, and domestic energy production declines.
That outcome serves no one. At a time when energy demand continues to rise, policymakers should look for ways to keep economically viable production online, rather than creating barriers that make it harder for small operators to continue producing affordable American energy.
Wayne Christian is a statewide elected official serving as a commissioner on the Railroad Commission of Texas, the nation’s premier oil and gas regulatory agency, which oversees energy production in America’s leading oil- and natural gas-producing state.
