Texas creating task forces to target Permian Basin oil field thefts

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ODESSA — 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 ten 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 oil field 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 oil field robberies. The effort will cost taxpayers nearly $5 million.

House Bill 48, by Darby, establishes a DPS-created oil field 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 two years, the body must report back to the legislature.

In a statement to The Texas Tribune, Darby called oil field 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.

Senate Bill 494, authored by Sparks, directs the Railroad Commission to create a second task force to prevent the theft of petroleum products. This body must consist of proxies from the oil and gas industry, an oil and gas trade association and law enforcement agencies. They will conduct ongoing studies regarding theft, review the effectiveness of laws and analyze whether local and county governments are losing money in sales taxes as a result.

Another Sparks bill, Senate Bill 1806, authorizes DPS to inspect oil field cargo tanks they suspect of being used to transport stolen oil, take samples from the vehicle and study them in a crime laboratory. The bill authorizes apprehending officers to return the product or sell it and reimburse the company from which it was stolen.

The bill also increases the penalties for oil and gas theft. Transporting petroleum products to a waste disposal location is a felony with a penalty of at least $100,000; purchasing petroleum products without authorization from railroad commission can bring a penalty of up to $100,000; storing, purchasing or trading a petroleum product without authorization from the railroad commission can result in in a penalty of up to $10,000.

Ed Longanecker, president of the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association, a trade group, said the bills were their top priority. He said one of their largest members lost $1.1 million in crude oil and equipment theft and damages between 2023 and 2024.

“And, again, this is just one of thousands of operators in Texas that have been victims of these crimes,” Longanecker said.

A task force led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he said, estimated that operators in the Permian Basin lose up to $300,000 a month in stolen tools, pipes and valves.

“Considering more than 2 billion barrels of oil and condensate were produced in Texas in 2024, the loss is estimated to be in the billions of dollars annually,” he said.

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