FM 2017 between Valentine and Van Horn that leads to new oil and gas drilling projects
Photo by Lisa Morton
More wildcat well applications submitted
By John Daniel Garcia
PRESIDIO, JEFF DAVIS counties – A total of four applications for wildcat oil wells in the region have been submitted to the Texas Railroad Commission in April, with two applications requesting permission to drill in Presidio County, and two requesting permission to punch the earth Jeff Davis County.
One submission in Jeff Davis County has been approved and both in Presidio County were given the green light.
In Presidio County, Helios Operating LLC of Houston has requested permission to drill the wildcat wells located about 39 miles south of Van Horn, according to Texas Railroad Commission W-1 applications. The two properties are also located southwest of Valentine.
According to the Presidio County Appraisal District, one of the plats where drilling has been requested belongs to the Coal Mine Ranch and one plat is owned by Dennis Wayne Berry.
The well on Berry’s land, which received a “permit problem letter” regarding plat information, was approved by the commission on Monday.
The Coal Mine Ranch application was approved Tuesday.
The two wells are the first attempts at oil exploration in the county since 2014, when Inland Ocean Inc. of San Antonio drilled two wildcat wells southeast of Marfa.
In Jeff Davis County, Cody Energy of Charlotte, Texas, has two applications submitted.
According to the Jeff Davis County Appraisal District, one of the wells, located 22.2 miles northeast of Fort Davis, is owned by Rawhide Cattle Company of Tomball, Texas, and the other, located about 17 miles northeast of Fort Davis, is owned by Leoncita Cattle Company of Alpine.
The application for the land owned by Rawhide Cattle Company was approved Monday, according to Texas Railroad Commission documents.
The request for drilling on Leoncita Cattle Company land was submitted Monday and is currently pending.
In February, Devon Energy of Oklahoma City was granted a permit to drill on land in Jeff Davis County also owned by Leoncita Cattle Company, which was the first application to be submitted in the county since 2014.
Devon Energy was also granted a permit to drill in Brewster County in December on land owned by Tanksley Land Company in December.
