Texas Oil Field Truck Accidents

Oil Field Accidents

The Texas Department of Transportation recently released a report which cited that Texas had 839 operating drilling rigs. This is nearly half of all the rigs in the United States and this unprecedented oil and gas production has led to some serious oil and gas truck accidents. After all, just one oil and gas well using fracking technology requires a staggering 1,184 loaded trucks just to start production and another 353 loaded trucks a year to maintain that production. Every five years the well must then be re-fracked with an additional 997 loaded trucks. These trucks pose tremendous dangers on Texas roads and have led to multiple accidents and deaths, in areas in and around cities such as San Antonio, Fort Worth, Arlington, Midland, Lubbock and Odessa, as well as areas closer to the oil and gas fields where the transport trucks frequently travel.

At Tate Law Offices, P.C., our Texas trucking accident lawyers are prepared to fight the tough fight with oil and gas companies. Natural gas trucks, oil well trucks, tanker trucks, water trucks, and oil field production equipment can all cause extreme injuries when operated negligently. We will investigate and work hard to hold the negligent company and driver responsible for your injuries and maximize your settlement compensation. Call us at 888-662-3892 immediately if you or someone you know has been injured by an oil or gas truck.

Oil and Gas Trucking Companies High Risk and Negligent Operations

Time and time again, large oil and gas companies put profits before safety. As such, they often knowingly break federal safety regulations and motor vehicle carrier laws. Truck drivers may be in excess of legal driving limits on how long they can operate their trucks without rest. Trucking companies routinely overload their cargo to lessen the driver’s trips in order to save money. As such, they end up falsifying driver logs in an effort to cover up violations of working over the maximum number of allowable hours and operating trucks above the allowable weight limits. In addition, the rapid growth of the oil and gas industry in Texas has forced many companies to hire unqualified drivers who have not been adequately trained to operate these large oil and gas trucks and heavy equipment. This gross negligence is unacceptable and often leads to devastating trucking accidents and deaths.

In the oil and gas production industry common causes of truck and large equipment wrecks and accidents are:

  • Truck driver fatigue
  • Overloaded trucks
  • Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs
  • Speeding due to being on an unrealistic time schedule
  • Truck driver distractions
  • Failure to properly train truck and equipment operators with proper safety procedures.

Oil and Gas Trucking Accidents in the Eagle Ford Shale

The Eagle Ford Shale is a formation in South Texas that is one of the most actively drilled sites for oil and natural gas. In terms of money invested in gas and oil extraction, the Eagle Ford Shale represents the largest carbon fuel production development on the planet. This area consists of over 30 counties including Dimmit County and it stretches from north of Gonzales down to Webb County more than half the way from the Mexico border to Houston. There are some 200 active drilling rigs in this region, giving rise to higher and higher numbers of accidents where drilling transport trucks move equipment to and from the oil fields and gas fields, to facilitate the extraction of fuel. The oil and gas operators have recently stated that this level of gas and oil field production will continue to increase in the foreseeable future, making accidents even more likely in and around the oil and gas rigs. Many of the truck and semi drivers involved in this massive transportation effort are working under difficult conditions and prone to make mistakes that result in devastating injury accidents with other autos, whether trucks, cars or motorcycles that share the roads, highways and interstates. Some of the natural gas and oil operators in the Eagle Ford Shale include:

  • EOG Resources
  • Chesapeake Energy
  • Apache Corp.
  • Petrohawk Energy/BHP Billiton
  • Pioneer Natural Resources
  • Newfield Exploration
  • Marathon Oil
  • Shell
  • Anadarko Petroleum
  • ConocoPhillips
  • Murphy Oil
  • SM Energy

Gas and Oil Trucking Accidents in the Barnett Shale

The geological formation known as the Barnett Shale is one of the largest onshore natural gas fields in the United States (the largest in Texas) and underlies the cities of Fort Worth and Arlington and 17 counties, including Denton, Tarrant, and Wise counties in North Texas. It is a tight gas reservoir, which in the past, made it very difficult to produce gas in commercial quantities in this area. Recent improvements made in hydraulic fracturing technology and horizontal drilling, however, have turned this area into a viable region natural gas operators. The gas production in the Barnett Shale is unique in that it is the only gas production area in the United States that is largely operative in a truly urban environment, with drilling rigs visible in numerous places around the Fort Worth metropolitan area, as well as Arlington and the mid cities portion of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. This proximity to urban, as well as suburban traffic and day-to-day life, increases the likelihood of accidents with cars and trucks that share the roads, highways and interstates with large, gas field equipment transportation trucks, used by the natural gas companies in the Barnett Shale and particularly within the Fort Worth and Arlington areas. Some of the oil and natural gas operators in the Barnett Shale include:

  • Devon
  • Chesapeake
  • GEV Group
  • EOG
  • XTO
  • Range Resources
  • EnCana
  • ConocoPhillips
  • Quicksilver
  • Chief Oil and Gas
  • Denbury

Oil and Gas Trucking Accidents in the Permian Basin

Located in the western part of Texas and the southeastern part of New Mexico, the Permian Basin reaches from Lubbock to Midland and Odessa. It gets its name from the large oil and natural gas production that occurs in this sedimentary basin. The Texas towns of Midland and Odessa serve as headquarters for the oil field production in this area and they’re also where numerous gas and oil trucking accidents have occurred. Some of the oil and gas operators in the Permian Basin include:

  • Apache Corp
  • Approach Resources
  • Cimarex Energy
  • Concho Resources
  • ConocoPhillips
  • CrownQuest Operating
  • David H. Arrington Oil & Gas, Inc
  • Diamondback Energy, Inc
  • Energen Resources
  • ExL Petroleum
  • Fasken Oil and Ranch
  • Great Western Drilling
  • Legacy Reserves LP
  • Pioneer Natural Resources
  • Reliance Energy
  • Summit Petroleum
  • XOG Operating LLC

Contact a Truck Accident Lawyer If You Have Been Injured

The truck accident and personal injury lawyers at Tate Law Offices, P.C., are very experienced with the Texas Department of Transportation and the Federal transportation laws. We understand that many problems have occurred in the oil and gas production industry over the recent years due to rapid production growth that has caused trucking companies to behave negligently. Our trucking accident lawyers have achieved large settlements for our clients in a wide range of injury cases. We take cases all over the state of Texas and have offices in the major cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston. To talk to us on the phone or arrange an appointment at the location of your choice call us at 972-499-4813. Our lawyers are glad to speak with you for free, lay out your legal options, and determine the best strategy to maximize the value of your injury claim. We look forward to speaking with you.