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Oynes served as U.S. [[Minerals Management Service]] (MMS) associate director for offshore energy and minerals management before he retired in May 2010. Oynes, who oversaw oil and gas leasing in the [[Gulf of Mexico]] for 12 years<ref name="Gulfbase">{{cite web |publisher=GulfBase |work=GulfBase |url=https://www.gulfbase.org/person/view.php?uid=coynes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218022016/https://www.gulfbase.org/person/view.php?uid=coynes |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 December 2010 |title=Dr. Chris Oynes |author=Anonymous |year=2010 |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref> before being promoted to MMS associate director had come under fire for being too close to the industry officials he regulated.<ref name="Eilperin">{{cite web |last=Eilperin |first=Juliet |title=Independent Probe of BP Oil Spill in Works |work=Washington Post |publisher=Washington Post |location=Washington, DC |date=18 May 2010 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/17/AR2010051702123.html |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref><ref name="Offshore Mag"/>
Oynes served as U.S. [[Minerals Management Service]] (MMS) associate director for offshore energy and minerals management before he retired in May 2010. Oynes, who oversaw oil and gas leasing in the [[Gulf of Mexico]] for 12 years<ref name="Gulfbase">{{cite web |publisher=GulfBase |work=GulfBase |url=https://www.gulfbase.org/person/view.php?uid=coynes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218022016/https://www.gulfbase.org/person/view.php?uid=coynes |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 December 2010 |title=Dr. Chris Oynes |author=Anonymous |year=2010 |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref> before being promoted to MMS associate director had come under fire for being too close to the industry officials he regulated.<ref name="Eilperin">{{cite web |last=Eilperin |first=Juliet |title=Independent Probe of BP Oil Spill in Works |work=Washington Post |publisher=Washington Post |location=Washington, DC |date=18 May 2010 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/17/AR2010051702123.html |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref><ref name="Offshore Mag"/>


During his tenure at the Gulf regional office in [[Louisiana]] for the MMS, Oynes played a central role in an offshore leasing foul-up that cost taxpayers an estimated $10 billion in lost revenue. The [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]]'s inspector general called the matter "a jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling."<ref name="Dickinson">{{cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Tim |work=Rolling Stone |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=8 June 2010 |title=The Spill, The Scandal and the President |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-spill-the-scandal-and-the-president-193093/ |accessdate=22 July 2020 |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref name="DeParle">{{cite web |title=Minerals Service Had a Mandate to Produce Results |last=DeParle |first=Jason |date=7 August 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/us/08mms.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |publisher=The New York Times |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref><ref name="Newhouse"">{{cite web |work=Sun Journal |publisher=Sun Journal |date=19 January 2007 |title=U.S. official faults ‘bureaucratic bungling’ for oil-royalty losses |accessdate=22 July 2020 |url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2007/01/19/us-official-faults-bureaucratic-bungling-oil-royalty-losses/# |author=Newhouse News Service |location=Lewiston, ME}}</ref><ref name="Strickler">{{cite web |last=Strickler |first=Laura |date=18 January 2007 |accessdate=22 July 2020 |title=More on oil lease royalties: It's the cover up, not the $10 billion dollar mistake |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-on-oil-lease-royalties/ |publisher=CBS News |location=New York, NY |work=CBS News}}</ref><ref name="Grist">{{cite web |last=Rieland |first=Randy |title=10 ways MMS makes FEMA look good |date=19 May 2010 |accessdate=22 July 2020 |url=https://grist.org/article/2010-05-18-10-ways-mms-makes-fema-look-good/ |publisher=Grist |location=Seattle, WA |work=Grist}}</ref> Despite that, the agency's then-director, Johnnie Burton,<ref>[http://www.mrm.mms.gov/PDFDocs/20070205.pdf Chris Oynes Named Associate Director of the MMS Offshore Program] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528061135/http://www.mrm.mms.gov/PDFDocs/20070205.pdf |date=May 28, 2010 }}, February 5, 2007</ref> promoted Oynes in 2007 to associate director for the offshore program.<ref name="DeParle"/><ref>[http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2010/05/federal_oversight_of_oil_indus.html Federal oversight of oil industry is broken: An editorial (The Times-Picayune, May 16, 2010)]</ref><ref name="Offshore Mag"/><ref name="St. Clair and Frank">{{cite book |title=The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink |publisher=AK Press |location=Edinburgh |last1=St. Clair |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Frank |first2=Joshua |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5VUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT71&lpg=PT71&dq=%22a+jaw-dropping+example+of+bureaucratic+bungling.%22+oynes&source=bl&ots=ziZ_lC8l22&sig=ACfU3U0_N5GMHWd0Bbi_AJXF3UK6pxK_XA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio6Irbp-HqAhXmYN8KHX9nAho4ChDoATAFegQIChAB#v=onepage&q=oynes&f=false |year=2018 |accessdate=22 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="Dickinson"/>
During his tenure at the Gulf regional office in [[Louisiana]] for the MMS, Oynes played a central role in an offshore leasing foul-up that cost taxpayers an estimated $10 billion in lost revenue.<ref name="Heersink">{{cite journal |last=Heersink |first=Emily |work=Public Contract Law Journal |volume=37 |issue=2 |year=2008 |page=319 |title=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 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25755455.pdf |accessdate=22 July 2020 |publisher=American Bar Association |location=Chicago, IL}}</ref> The [[United States Department of the Interior|Interior Department]]'s inspector general called the matter "a jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling."<ref name="Dickinson">{{cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Tim |work=Rolling Stone |publisher=Rolling Stone |date=8 June 2010 |title=The Spill, The Scandal and the President |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-spill-the-scandal-and-the-president-193093/ |accessdate=22 July 2020 |location=New York, NY}}</ref><ref name="DeParle">{{cite web |title=Minerals Service Had a Mandate to Produce Results |last=DeParle |first=Jason |date=7 August 2010 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/us/08mms.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |publisher=The New York Times |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref><ref name="Newhouse"">{{cite web |work=Sun Journal |publisher=Sun Journal |date=19 January 2007 |title=U.S. official faults ‘bureaucratic bungling’ for oil-royalty losses |accessdate=22 July 2020 |url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2007/01/19/us-official-faults-bureaucratic-bungling-oil-royalty-losses/# |author=Newhouse News Service |location=Lewiston, ME}}</ref><ref name="Strickler">{{cite web |last=Strickler |first=Laura |date=18 January 2007 |accessdate=22 July 2020 |title=More on oil lease royalties: It's the cover up, not the $10 billion dollar mistake |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/more-on-oil-lease-royalties/ |publisher=CBS News |location=New York, NY |work=CBS News}}</ref><ref name="Grist">{{cite web |last=Rieland |first=Randy |title=10 ways MMS makes FEMA look good |date=19 May 2010 |accessdate=22 July 2020 |url=https://grist.org/article/2010-05-18-10-ways-mms-makes-fema-look-good/ |publisher=Grist |location=Seattle, WA |work=Grist}}</ref> Despite that, the agency's then-director, Johnnie Burton,<ref>[http://www.mrm.mms.gov/PDFDocs/20070205.pdf Chris Oynes Named Associate Director of the MMS Offshore Program] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528061135/http://www.mrm.mms.gov/PDFDocs/20070205.pdf |date=May 28, 2010 }}, February 5, 2007</ref> promoted Oynes in 2007 to associate director for the offshore program.<ref name="DeParle"/><ref>[http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2010/05/federal_oversight_of_oil_indus.html Federal oversight of oil industry is broken: An editorial (The Times-Picayune, May 16, 2010)]</ref><ref name="Offshore Mag"/><ref name="St. Clair and Frank">{{cite book |title=The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink |publisher=AK Press |location=Edinburgh |last1=St. Clair |first1=Jeffrey |last2=Frank |first2=Joshua |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5VUDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT71&lpg=PT71&dq=%22a+jaw-dropping+example+of+bureaucratic+bungling.%22+oynes&source=bl&ots=ziZ_lC8l22&sig=ACfU3U0_N5GMHWd0Bbi_AJXF3UK6pxK_XA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio6Irbp-HqAhXmYN8KHX9nAho4ChDoATAFegQIChAB#v=onepage&q=oynes&f=false |year=2018 |accessdate=22 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="Dickinson"/>


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 gifts from oil companies.<ref name="Urbina">{{cite web |last=Urbina |first=Ian |title=Inspector General’s Inquiry Faults Regulators |date=24 May 2010 |work=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/us/25mms.html |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref> In 2008, a report from the Interior Department's Inpector-General found that MMS employees had received improper gifts from energy industry representatives.<ref name="CNN Wire Staff"/><ref name="Urbina"/>
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 gifts from oil companies.<ref name="Urbina">{{cite web |last=Urbina |first=Ian |title=Inspector General’s Inquiry Faults Regulators |date=24 May 2010 |work=The New York Times |publisher=The New York Times |location=New York, NY |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/us/25mms.html |accessdate=19 June 2018}}</ref> In 2008, a report from the Interior Department's Inpector-General found that MMS employees had received improper gifts from energy industry representatives.<ref name="CNN Wire Staff"/><ref name="Urbina"/>

Revision as of 17:18, 22 July 2020

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

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

Oynes served as U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) associate director for offshore energy and minerals management before he retired in May 2010. Oynes, who oversaw oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico for 12 years[6] before being promoted to MMS associate director had come under fire for being too close to the industry officials he regulated.[7][3]

During his tenure at the Gulf regional office in Louisiana for the MMS, Oynes played a central role in an offshore leasing foul-up that cost taxpayers an estimated $10 billion in lost revenue.[8] The Interior Department's inspector general called the matter "a jaw-dropping example of bureaucratic bungling."[9][10][11][12][13] Despite that, the agency's then-director, Johnnie Burton,[14] promoted Oynes in 2007 to associate director for the offshore program.[10][15][3][16][9]

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 gifts from oil companies.[17] In 2008, a report from the Interior Department's Inpector-General found that MMS employees had received improper gifts from energy industry representatives.[4][17]

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Oynes announced that he would retire at the end of May 2010.[18][19][20][21] According to the Minerals Management website, Oynes had "...more than 30 years of Federal Government experience..."[2][20][7][4]

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

References

  1. ^ a b c d Anonymous (19 October 2017). "Chris Craig Oynes (1947-2017)". The Advocate. Baton Rouge, LA: The Advocate. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b Anonymous (2010). "Chris Oynes, Associate Director, Offshore Energy and Minerals Management". Minerals Management Service. Minerals Management Service. Archived from the original on 25 May 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Anonymous (5 February 2007). "Chris Oynes Named Associate Director of MMS Offshore Program". Offshore Magazine. Tulsa, OK: PennWell Corp. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b c CNN Wire Staff (17 May 2010). "Federal Official Overseeing Offshore Oil Development to Retire Early". CNN. CNN. Retrieved 19 June 2018. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  5. ^ Anonymous (October 2000). "Eastern GOM: Boom or Bust? Joint Industry Association Luncheon" (PDF). The APInion. New Orleans, LA: American Petroleum Institute, Delta Chapter. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  6. ^ Anonymous (2010). "Dr. Chris Oynes". GulfBase. GulfBase. Archived from the original on 18 December 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  7. ^ a b Eilperin, Juliet (18 May 2010). "Independent Probe of BP Oil Spill in Works". Washington Post. Washington, DC: Washington Post. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  8. ^ 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" (PDF). Public Contract Law Journal. 37 (2). Chicago, IL: American Bar Association: 319. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b DeParle, Jason (7 August 2010). "Minerals Service Had a Mandate to Produce Results". The New York Times. New York, NY: The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  11. ^ Newhouse News Service (19 January 2007). "U.S. official faults 'bureaucratic bungling' for oil-royalty losses". Sun Journal. Lewiston, ME: Sun Journal. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  12. ^ 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: CBS News. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  13. ^ Rieland, Randy (19 May 2010). "10 ways MMS makes FEMA look good". Grist. Seattle, WA: Grist. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  14. ^ Chris Oynes Named Associate Director of the MMS Offshore Program Archived May 28, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, February 5, 2007
  15. ^ Federal oversight of oil industry is broken: An editorial (The Times-Picayune, May 16, 2010)
  16. ^ St. Clair, Jeffrey; Frank, Joshua (2018). The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink. Edinburgh: AK Press. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  17. ^ a b Urbina, Ian (24 May 2010). "Inspector General's Inquiry Faults Regulators". The New York Times. New York, NY: The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  18. ^ Burka, Paul (July 2010). "Oil and Water". Texas Monthly. Austin, TX: Texas Monthly. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  19. ^ Sullivan, Eilleen; Daly, Matthew (17 May 2010). "MMS drilling official retires in oil spill fallout". The San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego, CA: The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  20. ^ a b Anonymous (17 May 2010). "Chris Oynes, MMS Official, To Step Down In Wake Of Gulf Oil Spill". Huffington Post. Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  21. ^ Anonymous (17 May 2010). "Coast Guard Warn of Oil Spill Reaching Florida Coast". BBC. BBC. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
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