Interviewer(s): T. Priest. Washington, D.C

Affiliation: University of Houston/History International

Robin West received his B.A. from University of North Carolina and his J.D. from Temple University. He served in the Ford Administration on the White House staff (1974-76) and as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Economic Affairs (1976-77). During 1977-1980, he was a first vice president of Blyth, Eastman, Dillon & Co., Inc., an investment banking firm. He then served in the Reagan Administration as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Policy, Budget, and Administration (1981-1983). He played a major role in conceiving of and implementing the new five-year leasing plan for federal OCS areas and in the shift to area-wide leasing in the Gulf of Mexico. He also spearheaded the organizational reform of the OCS program, consolidating functions in a single Minerals Management Service. In 1984, he founded The Petroleum Finance Company, which has become a very influential consulting firm for the international oil and gas industry.