Oil Theft Burns a Billion-Dollar Hole in the West Texas Economy

The Martin County Sheriff’s Office sits along Interstate 20 in West Texas, a stretch of dusty plains and sunbaked highways that could almost be the setting for a Mad Max movie. It’s sparse—oil wells outnumber people—but that doesn’t mean it’s quiet for Sheriff Randy Cozart. At least once a week, someone calls to say their oil field has been robbed: trailers missing, copper wire yanked and, most of all, crude stolen. In total, some 500 barrels’ worth of oil go missing in Martin County every week, Cozart estimates. At last year’s average of $65 a barrel, that’s an annual loss ...