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Elon Musk’s next Texas play? Drilling for natural gas, of course
The area around the SpaceX facility has seen limited oil and gas development.
There are almost a nearby dozen wells classified as either abandoned or dry holes, Railroad Commission Records show. Canadian company Enbridge Inc. owns and operates the nearby Valley Crossing Pipeline, which moves 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Eagle Ford Shale of South Texas to customers in Mexico.
The Brownsville area may see more energy investment in the years ahead. There are separate plans for three liquefied natural gas export terminals about 5 miles west of the launch site. Environmental reports for those projects say they could safely coexist with SpaceX, although some activists dispute those claims.
Formed in June 2020, Lone Star bought the 806-acre La Pita oil lease from Houston-based Sanchez Energy, which was later renamed Mesquite Energy Inc. after exiting bankruptcy. Financial terms for the deal weren't disclosed, but the SpaceX subsidiary's drilling plans have been called into question amid a dispute with Dallas Petroleum Group, which claims ownership of some inactive wells sitting on the same land.
During Friday's hearing, Dallas Petroleum CEO Matt Williams shared aerial photos that he said showed company equipment near the wells had been disconnected, while drilling and hydraulic-fracturing gear it doesn't own had been moved onto the property. His company, he added, was also given a trespass warning.
"Our signs are all over these tanks and the well head," he said. "Any operation that went on there, we were very much liable for any problems that could have happened."
