Bloomberg By Sergio Chapa 8/3/2021
• Agency gives SpaceX arm control of former oil and gas lease
• Disputed land being used to develop rocket launch site
Texas oil regulators voted unanimously in favor of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company in a dispute over land already being used to build the billionaire’s Starbase complex near the border with Mexico.
Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas, the state’s top oil and natural gas industry regulator, on Tuesday voted 3-0 to designate SpaceX’s Lone Star Mineral Development unit as the operator of inactive oil and natural gas wells on 24 acres being developed to support the billionaire’s rocket launch facility near the mouth of the Rio Grande.
Dallas Petroleum Group claimed ownership of the land and a pair of inactive wells sitting there following an October 2017 deal with Sanchez Energy, which sold the land to SpaceX subsidiary Dogleg Park LLC last year, filings show. Railroad Commission staff determined that Sanchez continued paying property taxes for the land while Dallas Petroleum Group did not attempt to do so until just before a January 2021 hearing for the dispute.
More:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-03/musk-wins-spacex-starbase-land-dispute-in-texas-regulator-vote
