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Aug 28, 2008 6:56 pm US/Central
Diesel Thieves Hitting Natural Gas Drillers
WISE COUNTY (CBS 11 News) ―
As the cost of fuel has risen, so have thefts of fuel.
One of the biggest industries in North Texas is getting hit nearly everyday.
It's natural gas drilling.
Drilling for gas requires heavy equipment that needs a lot of fuel. Drilling companies often store hundreds of gallons at their work sites.
Diesel costs more than $4 per gallon right now, and some thieves are willing to take the risk for the potential payoff.
"Somebody calls on a daily basis saying, 'We came to work this morning and all of our fuel is gone out of our truck'," Wise County Sheriff David Walker explained.
Early Wednesday morning deputies from Wise and Denton counties tracked down a suspected thief hauling what some consider "liquid gold".
Two people in Wise County called police after seeing a pickup truck speeding down a road leading to a well lease site. They followed the truck and told police where it was.
When Wise County Sheriff's Deputies caught up to the truck, it was pulling a trailer loaded with 410 gallons of diesel fuel.
Deputies say
30-year-old Reuben Hernandez took the gas from a well site operated by Devon Energy, which is the largest natural gas producer in the Barnett Shale.
In the last three months, one energy company has reported more than 9,000 gallons of diesel fuel stolen.
Phil Ryan, a regional security advisor for Devon Energy, says "They've found a market, probably truckers or small stations selling it. Everybody's trying to save on operating costs. They're going to do it."
The problem is so bad, energy companies have agreed to team up with law enforcement to form an "oilfield theft task force".
Replacement fuel costs throughout North Texas are costing companies hundreds of thousands of dollars and having an even larger effect. "The people waiting in line are charging. You've got [company] down-time, that hurts production, so there's a ripple effect and it can get expensive," Ryan said.
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