These thefts are not common in other parts of the state, but because of the large oil and gas industry in West Texas, oil field equipment and cheap places to live are in high demand.

Texas lawmakers hope a series of new laws will help end oil field thefts in West Texas. Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune Audio recording is automated for accessibility.

Two West Texas lawmakers want to divert 10% of the roughly $8 billion that oil and gas companies pay the state in so-called severance taxes to benefit oil-producing counties.

ODESSA, Texas (AP) — The fracking boom that resuscitated the Texas oil fields has also beaten up the infrastructure in the Permian Basin, the state’s biggest oil and gas drilling region.

The Texas Railroad Commission voted Tuesday to immediately suspend a permit that allowed a defiant Houston operator to inject oilfield wastewater deep underground in an area of West Texas plagued by ...

Tank batteries in Midland County, Texas. (Sean Hannon/iStock via Getty Images) “Nobody wants to go into law enforcement,” Granado said, adding that the oil fields pay better.

West Texas has had 103 earthquakes in 8 days, and experts say it's not natural. ... Instead, it is "almost 99% likely" to be linked to local oil fields, Rubinstein said.

West Texas has a long history of earthquakes induced by oil and gas operations dating to at least the 1970s, according to Robert Skoumal, a research geophysicist with the USGS.

Can recycled oil field water quench the thirst of drought-stricken West Texas? Now, pilot projects are exploring whether this water could be treated and used to grow crops. By Martha Pskowski ...

Three earthquakes that struck west Texas on Monday – including a magnitude 4.9 temblor – are all linked to local oil production. Three quakes were recorded Monday night in Scurry County, Texas .