Texas creating task forces to target Permian Basin oil field thefts
[June 21, 2025] By
CARLOS NOGUERAS RAMOS/The Texas Tribune
ODESSA, Texas (AP) — 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.”
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 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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