Lubbock is on the edge of the Permian. What does that mean for an oilfield contractor based here?

Lubbock is not Midland. TSHA describes Lubbock County as flat tableland on the Southern High Plains, a leading agribusiness center where cotton became the dominant farm enterprise. Its county history does not center on oil.

Lubbock County does appear on the RRC's list of 61 counties affected by the Permian Basin. But when the UT Bureau of Economic Geology lists the 18 counties where the Spraberry Trend is productive, Lubbock is not one of them. The nearest listed counties are Terry, Lynn, Garza, Gaines, Dawson and Borden.

So the honest picture: a Lubbock-based oilfield contractor is usually a company that keeps its yard, office and people in the region's biggest city and sends crews south and southwest to the wells. That makes the drive part of the job, and it makes your auto policy one of the most important pieces of the program.

The RRC's District 8A office is at 6302 Iola Avenue in Lubbock. District 8A covers 21 counties.

District 8A is quieter than District 08. In the RRC's July 2026 statistics, 8A had 37 permits to drill new holes and 10 new oil completions, compared with 275 permits and 360 new oil completions in District 08.

Six District 8A counties appear on the BEG's Spraberry Trend list: Borden, Dawson, Gaines, Garza, Lynn and Terry.

Two kinds of work dominate the 8A side of the Permian.

San Andres CO2 floods. An EPA-filed monitoring plan describes the Wasson San Andres Field in Yoakum and Gaines counties, near Seminole and Hobbs, New Mexico. It was discovered in 1935, and CO2 flooding started in 1983 in two units, with others following in 1986 and 1995. A separate plan for Seminole East Field reports H2S in recycled or produced gas above 18,000 ppm, with personal H2S monitors worn by all field personnel.

The northern Spraberry Trend in Dawson, Gaines, Borden, Lynn, Terry and Garza counties.

For a Lubbock contractor, the MSA and insurance questions are:

• H2S training. Rule 36 requires operators to use trained service company personnel where it applies and to get written certification from you.
• Pollution. Work on injection systems and produced fluids is pollution exposure. See oilfield pollution liability.
• Equipment. Corrosive service and long hauls are hard on equipment. See oilfield equipment insurance.

See the Seminole and Lamesa pages for the counties themselves.

TSHA lists Interstate 27, US 84, US 62/82 and US 87 serving Lubbock County, plus a network of farm roads. Crews leaving a Lubbock yard for Gaines or Yoakum County wells drive a long way before they start work.

• Auto program. Radius of operation, driver records and loss history drive the price. When the wells are a long drive from the yard, every job adds highway miles.
• Hands driving their own trucks. Hired and non-owned auto covers your company when employees drive personal vehicles on company business. See what is hired and non-owned auto.
• Permits. Oversize and overweight loads need a TxDMV permit. TxDMV's annual well servicing unit permit requires a USDOT number in your company name.
• County roads. Commissioners courts can set load limits on county roads and bridges with TxDOT's concurrence under Transportation Code 621.301.
• Umbrella. The umbrella should list auto as underlying. See oilfield umbrella insurance.

TSHA describes Lubbock as the wholesale trade center for 51 counties in West Texas and eastern New Mexico. For an oilfield contractor that often means New Mexico customers.

• Workers' comp. The New Mexico Workers' Compensation Administration says coverage is required for an employer with three or more workers, and for any business licensed under the Construction Industries Licensing Act regardless of size. List New Mexico on your policy before you send a crew.
• Indemnity. NMSA 56-7-2 voids indemnity for the indemnitee's own negligence on New Mexico wells, and Subsection C voids additional insured and waiver of subrogation requirements that would get around that ban.

See the Hobbs page and the Permian Basin guide.

When you are ready, send the MSA insurance exhibit, your certificates and any rejection notice. We will tell you what fits and what does not.