August 19, 2019

AUSTIN – The Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) today announced the hiring of two community relations directors in Houston and Corpus Christi. Caroline Conte will represent TXOGA in Houston and Matt Garcia will serve in Corpus Christi.

“Houston and Corpus Christi are hubs of oil and natural gas activity and we are pleased to bring Caroline and Matt on board to serve as a local resource to the residents, businesses and leaders in these communities,” said Todd Staples, president of TXOGA.

Prior to joining TXOGA, Caroline Conte was the government affairs coordinator for theGreater Houston Builders Association and served as a legislative coordinator for Governor Greg Abbott. She is a graduate of Texas Christian University.

Matt Garcia worked in community relations and communications for the Port of Corpus Christi Authority. He is a graduate of Texas A&M – Corpus Christi.

In their new roles, Conte and Garcia join TXOGA’s Austin-based staff as well as Mari Ruckel, who is currently serving as Senior Advisor and Director of Community Relations for North Texas.

“Oil and natural gas are indispensable not only to meeting the needs of our daily lives, but also to fueling the Texas economy, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs, and funding our schools, roads and first responders,” added Staples.

TXOGA is a statewide trade association representing every facet of the Texas oil and natural gas industry including small independents and major producers. Collectively, the membership of TXOGA produces in excess of 90 percent of Texas’ crude oil and natural gas, operates over 80 percent of the state’s refining capacity, and is responsible for the vast majority of the state’s pipelines. In fiscal year 2018, the oil and natural gas industry supported more than 348,000 direct jobs in Texas and paid just over $14 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties, funding our state’s schools, roads and first responders.

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