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Chris Oynes
Born(1947-04-28)28 April 1947
Anaheim, California
Died18 October 2017(2017-10-18) (aged 70)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Education

Chris Craig Oynes (28 April 1947 – 18 October 2017) was an American lawyer and federal government administrator.[1][2]

Oynes was born in Anaheim, California to Christian and Lorraine Oynes.[1][2] Oynes received a BA degree in political science from California State University, Fullerton, and he received a JD degree from George Washington University.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Oynes served as U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) associate director for offshore energy and minerals management before he retired in May 2010. During the 1990s, Oynes served as Deputy Regional Director of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Region, and he was named Regional Director of that office in 1995.[7] Oynes who oversaw oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico[8] for 13 years[7] before being promoted to MMS associate director. In his duties as Regional Director of the Gulf of Mexico office, Oynes' managed the leasing of the OCS lands for oil, gas, and other marine minerals. This office was also responsible for environmental protection of these leased areas.[8] Oynes supervised a staff of 550 federal employees, including environmental scientists, biologists, geologists, geophysicists, and petroleum engineers.[8] Oynes had come under fire for being too close to the industry officials he regulated.[9][4]

During his tenure at the Gulf regional office in Louisiana for the MMS, Oynes played a central role in an offshore leasing foul-up[10][11][12][13] that cost taxpayers an estimated $10 billion in lost revenue.[11] The Interior Department's inspector general called the matter "a jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling."[14][15][16][17][18] Despite that, the agency's then-director, Johnnie Burton, promoted Oynes in 2007 to associate director for the offshore program.[7][15][19][4][20][14][21][10]

On May 24, 2010 The New York Times reported that under his watch in the Gulf, MMS regulators allowed industry officials to fill in their own inspection reports in pencil and then turned them over to the regulators, who traced over them in pen before submitting the reports to the agency. MMS staff also routinely accepted meals, tickets to sporting events and other gifts from oil companies.[22][23][24] In 2008, a report from the Interior Department's Inspector-General found that MMS employees had received improper gifts from energy industry representatives.[5][24][25][26] Another Inspector General report from 2010 found additional ethical lapses involving MMS employees and employees from oil and gas companies.[27][28]

Lee Tilton, the former Chief, Office of Congressional Affairs (OCA), for the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,[29][30] was a former protégé of Chris Oynes.[31]

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Oynes announced that he would retire at the end of May 2010.[32][25][33][34][35][36][37] According to the Minerals Management website, Oynes had "...more than 30 years of Federal Government experience..."[3][35][9][5][7][2]

Oynes died on 18 October 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[1][2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Chris Craig Oynes (1947-2017)". The Advocate. Baton Rouge, LA. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Chris Craig Oynes, 1947-2017". The Times Picayune. New Orleans, LA. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Chris Oynes, Associate Director, Offshore Energy and Minerals Management". Minerals Management Service. 2010. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b c "Chris Oynes Named Associate Director of MMS Offshore Program". Offshore Magazine. Tulsa, OK: PennWell Corp. 5 February 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  5. ^ a b c "Federal Official Overseeing Offshore Oil Development to Retire Early". CNN. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Eastern GOM: Boom or Bust? Joint Industry Association Luncheon" (PDF). The APInion. New Orleans, LA: American Petroleum Institute, Delta Chapter. October 2000. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Minerals Management Service (5 February 2007). "Chris Oynes Named Associate Director of the MMS Offshore Program" (PDF) (Press release). Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "Dr. Chris Oynes". 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  9. ^ a b Eilperin, Juliet (18 May 2010). "Independent Probe of BP Oil Spill in Works". Washington Post. Washington, DC. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  10. ^ a b Mulligan, James S. (September 2011). "Case Study: Minerals Management Service" (PDF). Burlington, VT: Institute for Environmental Diplomacy and Security, James M. Jeffords Center, University of Vermont. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  11. ^ a b "MMS Official: Missing Lease Price Thresholds a 'Serious Mistake'". Natural Gas Intelligence. Sterling, VA. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  12. ^ Ivanovich, David (14 September 2006). "Government oil lease blunder hidden 6 years: Investigator says mistake cost taxpayers billions of dollars". Houston Chronicle. Houston, TX. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  13. ^ Heersink, Emily (2008). "Royalty Robbery: How Statutory Supremacy and the "Christian" Doctrine Require Oil Companies to Pay Royalties on Leases Missing the Deep Water Royalty Relief Price Threshold Clause". Public Contract Law Journal. 37 (2). Chicago, IL: American Bar Association: 319. JSTOR 25755455.
  14. ^ a b Dickinson, Tim (8 June 2010). "The Spill, The Scandal and the President". Rolling Stone. New York, NY: Rolling Stone. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  15. ^ a b DeParle, Jason (7 August 2010). "Minerals Service Had a Mandate to Produce Results". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  16. ^ Newhouse News Service (19 January 2007). "U.S. official faults 'bureaucratic bungling' for oil-royalty losses". Sun Journal. Lewiston, ME. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  17. ^ Strickler, Laura (18 January 2007). "More on oil lease royalties: It's the cover up, not the $10 billion dollar mistake". CBS News. New York, NY. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  18. ^ Rieland, Randy (19 May 2010). "10 ways MMS makes FEMA look good". Grist. Seattle, WA. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  19. ^ Federal oversight of oil industry is broken: An editorial (The Times-Picayune, May 16, 2010)
  20. ^ St. Clair, Jeffrey; Frank, Joshua (2018). The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink. Edinburgh: AK Press. ISBN 9781849353373. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  21. ^ Cousins, Farron (14 January 2011). "What Was Missing From the Oil Spill Commission's Report". DeSmog. Washington, DC. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  22. ^ Faciane, Valerie (3 February 2009). "Former Minerals Management supervisor to be sentenced today for failing to report hunting trip". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  23. ^ "Former Interior Dept. official gets probation". The Denver Post. Associated Press. 3 February 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  24. ^ a b Urbina, Ian (24 May 2010). "Inspector General's Inquiry Faults Regulators". The New York Times. New York, NY. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  25. ^ a b Smith, Morgan (28 May 2010). "Accidents Happen Sometimes". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  26. ^ Daly, Matthew (26 May 2010). "Report cites gifts to drilling overseers: It finds lunches, tickets for staff". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  27. ^ U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Inspector General (2010). "Investigative Report: Island Operating Company et al. Report Date: March 31, 2010. Date Posted to Web: May 25, 2010" (PDF). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Inspector General. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  28. ^ Straub, Noelle (25 May 2010). "Interior Probe Finds Fraternizing, Porn and Drugs at MMS Office in La". New York Times. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  29. ^ BOEM (2017). "Lee Tilton". BOEM. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  30. ^ Crane-Hirsch, Audrey Celeste. Congressional Liaison Offices of Selected Federal Agencies (PDF). Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service. p. 16. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  31. ^ "Chris Craig Oynes, 1947-2017 [Lee Tilton comment]". The Times-Picayune. 19 October 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
  32. ^ "Oil inspectors took company gifts, watchdog group finds". CNN. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 17 November 2022.
  33. ^ Burka, Paul (July 2010). "Oil and Water". Texas Monthly. Austin, TX. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  34. ^ Sullivan, Eilleen; Daly, Matthew (17 May 2010). "MMS drilling official retires in oil spill fallout". The San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego, CA. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  35. ^ a b "Chris Oynes, MMS Official, To Step Down In Wake Of Gulf Oil Spill". Huffington Post. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  36. ^ "Coast Guard Warn of Oil Spill Reaching Florida Coast". BBC. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  37. ^ Center for Effective Government (18 May 2010). "Minerals Management Service Acted More like Agent than Regulator". Washington, DC: Center for Effective Government. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
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