AG files lawsuit against Texas oil, gas well operators

Three Texas men used shell companies to pocket revenues from hundreds of New Mexico oil and gas wells while leaving the state with cleanup costs for abandoned properties, Attorney General Raúl Torrez alleges in a new lawsuit.

The suit describes a complex asset-stripping scheme in which profitable wells were placed in certain companies while non-productive wells remained in other companies that filed for bankruptcy.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe on behalf of New Mexico and the state Energy, Minerals & Natural Resources Department.

The suit names as defendants Everett Willard Gray, Marquis Fred Gilmore and Robert Stitzel, all of Midland, Texas, and 15 "shell companies" they operated.

Messages left by the Journal this week at companies owned by the three men were not immediately returned.

The 72-page lawsuit asks a judge to require the owners and the companies to plug and remediate inactive wells, set aside money for future remediation and compensate New Mexico for costs already spent to clean up abandoned wells.

"Now, unless this civil action is successful, most remaining wells on private and State land will need to be plugged and remediated at the State's expense," the suit said.

“New Mexicans are suffering from adverse health risks and bear the brunt of environmental harms caused by these companies failing to uphold their agreed-upon duty to responsibly plug oil and gas wells when they are no longer in production,” Torrez said in a statement.

The scheme began when the three men acquired hundreds of low- and non-producing oil and gas wells in New Mexico through Remnant Oil Operating LLC and Remnant Oil Company LLC, the suit alleges.

The men "drove Remnant into bankruptcy," then attempted to keep Remnant's best wells, the suit alleges. The three attempted to "dump the worst and their environmental liabilities on the State," it said.

After the plan failed, Stitzel and Gilmore created Acacia Operating LLC and Gray created Solis Partners to receive the best of Remnant's wells, the suit alleges.

The scheme unraveled in December 2024 when New Mexico sued Acacia Operating LLC, demanding the company plug and remediate six wells on state land, according to the suit.

"Right on schedule and according to plan, Acacia filed for bankruptcy soon afterwards and is currently in the process of liquidation," the suit states. The men "are once again seeking to walk away from the plugging and remediation costs for which Acacia is now liable," it said.