We recently discussed the petroleum-rich Permian Basin as part of the Legal Insurrection update on the dunes sagebrush lizard.
The Permian Basin, straddling Texas and New Mexico, is the world’s most extensive oil field, accounting for over 40% of the nation’s petroleum production. It has also been in the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulatory crosshairs, as the agency flew helicopters over the area, supposedly looking for “methane super-emitters.”
Over the past few years, it has also become a rich target for organized crime, as truckloads of liquid gold have regularly been siphoned off.
30,000 barrels of oil have been stolen in the Permian Basin since October of 2022, according to a representative from ConocoPhillips.As oilfield theft continues to cost producers millions of dollars, oil is not the only asset being stolen.As the oilfield stays busy, so does criminal activity around it.“The oilfield is a 24/7 operation, and there are trucks coming and going through oil leases all day and all night, and at a glance you can’t tell the good guys from the bad guys – for the most part,” said Richard Dickson, a lieutenant for the Ector County Sheriff’s Office.
It’s like the Wild West, except where the oil trucks are targeted rather than the stagecoaches.
Several members of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association are expressing concern over what they see as a dramatic increase in oilfield crime in the Permian Basin.“There’s always been thefts, but what seems to be happening is on another level,” Ben Shepperd, president of the PBPA, told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview. One member even told him a pumping unit had been stolen, he said.To address the concerns, PBPA has organized presentations from law enforcement to gain insight into law enforcement action as well as allowing members to speak with law enforcement about their experiences and how companies can assist in preventing thefts, he said….“We haven’t been able to put a dollar figure to the thefts, but it has to be in the tens of millions, hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said. “That threatens our economy and also national security.”The PBPA is working to alert all members to the issue and offer best practices that can help law enforcement recover items and prosecutors prosecute the thieves, he added.
Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) recently introduced the Protect the Permian Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. Thanks to the Biden administration, illegal immigrants are available to be recruited by organized crime to assist in on-land piracy.
The Protect the Permian Act of 2024, H.R. 9759, would increase criminal penalties for stealing, transporting, and selling oil and oil field-related equipment and expand federal resources to law enforcement agencies to target oil theft.“It’s time to get laws on the books that hold criminals accountable for coming into West Texas to steal our energy resources — the Protect the Permian Act will do just that,” said the congressman….Complicating the issue, authorities have observed criminal networks exploiting illegal immigrants to assist in oil field theft, highlighting a troubling link between border security and organized crime, the summary says.“The Permian Basin is an energy-producing powerhouse. Across West Texas and the Permian Basin region, large and small oil producers are dealing with widespread oil theft,” said Rep. Gonzales. “In addition to taking oil, criminals have hijacked trucks and stolen expensive equipment to extract copper pieces to sell.”
The FBI will be the agency tasked with protecting the basin. I will simply note that if the FBI weren’t so focused on J6 grandmothers and conservative Catholic activists, there might already be an adequate response to this serious economic and national security crisis.
It will take this country many years to recover from all the social and economic damage the Biden administration has allowed to occur because it decided to reverse all of President Trump’s works rather than govern based on what is best for the citizens of this nation.
Trump-hate is not the basis of sound policy or wise choices.
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