At least three times a week, Darin Mitchell gets the call.
Oil drums have been stolen. Copper wires were yanked. Other field equipment at an oil and gas facility was pilfered.
The Winkler County Sheriff dispatches his officers to investigate, but they rarely catch the crime in the act or find the stolen product, worth tens of thousands of dollars.
The West Texas county’s 10 deputies are overextended, policing 841 square miles, a combination of neighborhoods, a downtown area and the oil and gas facilities surrounding them. He doesn't have the manpower—or the money, he said—to investigate every instance.
“I don't have a dedicated person to just sit out there,” he said. “The county can't afford just to hire somebody full time to do oilfield thefts.”
The Texas Legislature has stepped in, passing a suite of bills that lawmakers, the sheriff, and oil and gas industry leaders said are crucial to combat what they say is a billion-dollar loss in oil field thefts in the Permian Basin, the state’s largest oil field.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed all three this month in Midland, saying in a statement that Texas is “bringing the full weight of the law to crack down on oil theft in the Permian Basin to protect the critical role energy development plays in fueling our economy.”
Written by state Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, and Sen. Kevin Sparks, R-Midland, the bills instruct the Department of Public Safety and the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry, to create task forces that will investigate oilfield robberies. The effort will cost taxpayers nearly $5 million.
House Bill 48, by Darby, establishes a DPS-created oilfield theft prevention unit. The members comprising it can enforce existing laws, in addition to providing training, resources, and strategies specific to deterring such thefts. The task force is also charged with conducting public awareness campaigns. Every 2 years, the body must report back to the legislature.
In a statement to The Texas Tribune, Darby called oilfield theft “a complex, highly coordinated criminal enterprise, often with direct connections to cartels. This escalating threat poses serious risks not only to the oil and gas industry—a cornerstone of our state’s economy—but also to the safety of our communities and the survival of small, hardworking businesses.”
He said his bills are meant to “systematically take apart” criminal networks profiting from energy infrastructure.