January 27, 2020

Sponsored by TXOGA, the 10-week, 50-school tour will bring the $1.2 million exhibit and its hands-on, interactive learning capabilities to thousands of Texas elementary students

EL PASO – Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA), was joined today by state and local El Paso officials and education and business leaders to announce TXOGA’s 2020 Statewide Mobile Oilfield Learning Unit (MOLU) Tour and view the MOLU first-hand with students during its first El Paso stop at Ramona Elementary School.

The MOLU is a $1.2 million exhibit that features six self-contained learning stations with TEKS curriculum-based, hands-on activities about the energy, technologies and sciences involved with the oil and natural gas industry. TXOGA has teamed up with the Oilfield Energy Center to bring the MOLU on a ten-week tour that will visit fifty schools across the State of Texas to promote STEM education and careers in the oil and natural gas industry.

“TXOGA is proud to partner with Ramona Elementary School and dozens of other schools throughout Texas to bring high-quality, innovative, interactive, hands-on educational opportunities like the MOLU directly to Texas’ next generation of innovators,” Staples said. “No one is more invested in a cleaner, stronger future than the oil and natural gas industry, and through programs like the MOLU, we are working to provide even more Texans with the opportunity to work in an industry that is growing our economy, securing our future, and making life better for people here in Texas and across the world.”

“As educators, we strive to provide the best, most useful, educational, and worthwhile learning opportunities for our students, so when the MOLU contacted me about visiting Ramona Elementary, I knew this was exactly one of those opportunities,” said Ramona Elementary School Principal Irene Ahumada. “I want to thank TXOGA for bringing their Statewide MOLU Tour to Ramona Elementary and providing our students with this hands-on, interactive, and diverse learning opportunity. I know our students will remember this day and talk about it for years to come.”

“Our state’s oil and gas industry is vital to the success of our public education system, contributing billions of dollars in education funding and providing meaningful STEM learning opportunities like today’s MOLU visit to Ramona Elementary School,” said State Representative Cesar Blanco (TX-76). “As a legislator, I appreciate the contributions of the industry to our state’s economic and financial well-being, and as an El Pasoan who is passionate about ensuring our communities thrive, I am thankful for the industry’s commitment to educating and inspiring young Texans.”

Also in attendance at the Ramona Elementary MOLU stop were State Representatives Lina Ortega (TX-77) and Art Fierro (TX-79), El Paso City Representative for District #2 Alexsandra Annello, representatives from the El Paso Chamber of Commerce, Oilfield Energy Center Board Member Bob Warren, and Marathon Petroleum employees. Marathon Petroleum, which has a refinery in El Paso, will have employee volunteers present at each MOLU school visit in El Paso this week.

Staples highlighted the Texas oil and natural gas industry’s meaningful impact over the decades on the state’s education system. Oil and natural gas activity across the state – including upstream, midstream and downstream – generates billions of dollars for Texas’ Permanent School Fund and Permanent University Fund, and the industry pays billions in property taxes to ISDs. This is money used to enhance learning, upgrade technology and safety equipment, and hire and retain the best teachers. Just two weeks ago, TXOGA announced that in 2019, the industry paid over $16 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties, and a large portion of that goes directly to education.

Beyond the dollars, the Texas oil and natural gas industry is investing untold time, talent and treasure in Texas schools and their students and teachers through innovative education programs and productive partnerships aimed at providing a state-of-the-art education for the next generation of Texans.

To learn more about the MOLU and TXOGA’s 2020 Statewide MOLU Tour, and the many ways the Texas oil and natural gas industry is fueling education in Texas, visit www.txoga.org/molu.

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Founded in 1919, TXOGA is the oldest and largest trade association in the State representing every facet of the Texas oil and natural gas industry.