Ryan Sitton

In December 2016, Sitton praised President Donald Trump's choice for EPA head, Scott Pruitt, predicting that Trump and Pruitt's reduction of federal regulations would lead to an oil boom.

Sitton was sworn in on January 5, 2015, succeeding outgoing Commissioner Barry Smitherman. He is the first mechanical engineer to serve on the Commission in 50 years.

Ryan Christopher Sitton (born 1975) is a Republican politician and current Texas Railroad Commissioner at the Texas Railroad Commission. A resident of Friendswood outside Houston, Sitton has been serving on the Railroad Commission since November 4, 2014.

With 358,827 votes (30.5 percent), Sitton finished second in the GOP primary held on March 4, 2014, and hence qualified for the runoff slot. In the second round of balloting, Christian again polled 42.7 percent of the vote, the same as his primary tabulation in a field of four candidates. Sitton, however, increased his total from the primary to the runoff election by nearly 27 percentage points, attributed to strong fundraising from industry professionals.

In 2012, Sitton lost a runoff contest with fellow Republican Greg Bonnen in Galveston County for the District 24 seat in the Texas House of Representatives.

Sitton spent his early career working for oil and gas companies, including ALCOA, Oxy, Marathon, and Berwanger Engineering and Consulting, where he created and led the mechanical integrity division. In 2006, the Sittons founded PinnacleART, an engineering and technology company. PinnacleART operates on solar power with natural gas backups.