The McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office alleges in court documents that Merrell and Vandewalker, who are truck drivers, skimmed oil they were scheduled to unload at a Crestwood Midstream facility,reported. Court documents allege that the men manipulated equipment such as transfer pumps during their deliveries.
Merrell and Vandewalker allegedly stored the oil in two tanks at a facility south of Watford City and later sold the stolen oil, according to the newspaper. The Oil & Gas Division of North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources has “no facility permits or anything of the sort in this area near Watford City where this allegedly took place,” plant manager Mark Bohrer told theMcGregor was taking care of the transportation and housing of the stolen oil, while Garcia was marketing it, theGarcia told investigators in April that skimming oil is “a common practice out here,” according to the affidavit.
“There are a lot of trucking companies out here that skim oil, everybody does it, it’s very easy, you can manipulate the numbers,” Garcia said. The investigation began after the sheriff’s McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office received a report of stolen crude oil from a former driver of the trucking company in March, theMcGregor and Vandewalker have preliminary hearings scheduled for Sept. 1, while Merrell and Garcia have pleaded not guilty and have a jury trial set for Nov. 14, according to the newspaper.
When a state produces 1,000,000 Bbls a day, it’s easy to skim companies.