Trump taps Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright for Department of Energy: 'Leading technologist and entrepreneur'

"I am thrilled to announce that Chris Wright will be joining my Administration as both United States Secretary of Energy, and Member of the newly formed Council of National Energy," Trump said in a statement released Saturday.

The newly-elected president wrote that Wright "has been a leading technologist and entrepreneur in Energy."

"He has worked in Nuclear, Solar, Geothermal, and Oil and Gas," Trump's statement read. "Most significantly, Chris was one of the pioneers who helped launch the American Shale Revolution that fueled American Energy Independence, and transformed the Global Energy Markets and Geopolitics."

The key Cabinet position announcement comes after Trump made independent energy and bolstering oil and gas production a cornerstone of his campaign. While on the campaign trail, Trump pledged to expand fracking and lift a pause on liquefied natural gas exports, which marks a sharp contrast with his predecessor.

"They annihilated your steel mills, decimated your coal jobs, assaulted your oil and gas jobs and sold off your manufacturing jobs to China and other foreign nations all over the world," Trump said of the Biden administration during a campaign event in Pennsylvania last month. 

Trump's nominees and administration picks during his second administration are being publicly announced at a much faster pace than during his first administration in 2016, which the transition team attributed to Trump's commitment to putting "America first."

On the energy front, Trump also reportedly plans to install an "energy czar" to scale back energy and climate regulations implemented under the Biden administration, and also already named former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. 

Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.