'Substantial' oil, gas strike predicted

Aug. 29—Tommy Wallace is hopeful his ranch in southern Quay County sits amid a substantial field of oil, natural gas and helium that could produce dozens, perhaps even hundreds, of well-paying jobs.

Wallace said in a phone interview last week that Louisiana-based Moran-Lavaca is "pretty sure" a substantial amount of helium exists on his property off Norton Road and at a recently drilled spot near Grady. He said he learned about the strike about six months ago.

The Grady area well is on property owned by Elmer White, White confirmed on Friday.

Though oil and gas are well-known as lucrative byproducts of the drilling industry, helium also can become a big money-maker.

Helium is the non-flammable gas used to fill balloons, but it also is used in the fields of high-tech manufacturing, medical technology and scientific research.

Scott Payne, a geologist and principal at Moran-Lavaca, said helium is a big part of the venture in southern Quay and northern Curry counties.

"The analyst that we have in Houston thinks this could be the largest helium field in the country. Helium is incredibly valuable," he said in a phone interview.

Louis Buffington, a Moran-Lavaca contractor who's been in the oil and gas industry for 50 years, said the signs are encouraging.

"They have helium in the wells, based on their engineering reports and drilling logs, and the science indicates that," he said in a phone interview. "They have spent a tremendous amount of dollars in the past three to four years out there on land cost and engineering, geophysical and geological work."

Payne said he's highly optimistic of a coming development in the area.

"In my career, I've drilled almost 500 wells," he said.

"We hoping it's going to be substantial. We feel like it's going to be a really great play, very widespread.

"I plan to drill a whole lot of wells in Curry and Quay County. There could be hundreds of wells out here."

In Curry County, Moran-Lavaca has permits for two more wells for which drilling has not begun. One is on property owned by Wesley Grau, according to records of the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division; the other is on land owned by Jimmy Sours of Grady, according to OCD records and Curry County maps.

Efforts to reach Grau and Sours were not immediately successful.

Payne said he and his partner, Scott Moran, at Moran-Lavaca have divested of its other wells in Texas and other states.

"We've gotten rid of everything but the stuff we've got in New Mexico. We're going all-in on this field," he said.

"My partner in Louisiana has been in the oilfield for 50 years. He wanted to go for something great."

He said the wells will produce "a lot of high-paying jobs."

"We're going to have pipelines, we're going to have compression facilities that are going to have to be maintained and installed, roads that are going to have to be maintained and actual work on the wells themselves," he said.

He added the oil and gas field initially would produce about 50 jobs.

"It could grow into hundreds. We believe it's another extension of the Permian Basin," Payne said, referring to the high-producing oilfield in Texas and New Mexico.

Payne was asked why no big oil companies have taken a chance on this region.

"It's out in the middle of nowhere, in no-man's-land," he responded. "There's not much infrastructure. Most companies don't want to go out where there's nothing. Most people want a safer bet.

"And a lot of these big companies don't do exploration anymore. They do things where there's a lot of wells; they know what they're going to get when they drill a well. Exploration is a high-risk, high-reward sort of thing. Not many people have the stomach for that."

Buffington said technology and computer data led the company to plan their drilling in Quay and Curry counties.

Regarding the oil and gas industry, Buffington said: "It's always an ongoing science project that's driven by money."

He said data indicate Moran-Lavaca has leased about 100,000 acres for exploration in the region.

"That would indicate they do have a positive attitude," he said, adding: "If you're in the oil and gas business and you're not optimist, you're not going to stay in it very long."

Though hundreds of inactive leases exist in Quay County, Wallace's well would be the first new oil or gas drilling activity in almost two decades, according to state records.

Wallace said the company plans to "keep drilling" on his ranch until "they quit hitting" reserves.

Wallace said he always thought the potential existed for oil and gas production in the area.

"Back before my time, they drilled a well about half a mile north of my mom and dad's house," he said.

"There's still remains of that site. It's about two miles from where they drilled this one."

White said he was encouraged by the discovery of oil, gas and helium on his property, because it could bring a new industry and jobs to the Grady area.

One thing holding up drilling in Quay County is an ongoing lawsuit by Moran-Lovaca against Texas-based Gouger Oil Co., which planned the initial well on Wallace's ranch in 2019 but ran into money problems, according to court documents.

In the meantime, Moran-Lavaca quietly has made itself known in the region. It's sponsored Quay County Little League teams in the last few years, and it was one of the bidders during the Quay County Fair's recent Junior Livestock Auction.

Once a judge clears the lawsuit from his docket, Moran-Lavaca will begin drilling in earnest.

"I've got all my equipment in Tucumcari, ready to go," Payne said.