Were you injured in an oilfield accident in Midland, TX?
At Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers, we represent injured oilfield workers in claims against operators, contractors, and their insurers.
If you were injured on a drilling or production site in Midland, you may be able to bring a claim against the operator, the contractors, and any other company whose negligence caused the incident. A Midland, TX oilfield accident lawyer identifies those companies and the insurance that covers each one.
Both of our founding attorneys handle oilfield injury cases for workers, never for the operators or contractors involved. Their results include a $20 million settlement in an oilfield burn case. We handle every oilfield case on a contingency fee, so our fee is paid from the recovery or not at all. Call us for a free first consultation about what happened on location.
Oilfield Accident Lawyer Midland, TX
An oilfield accident attorney represents workers injured on drilling rigs, well sites, and production facilities where several companies share one location. The operator owns the lease, a drilling contractor runs the rig, and service companies arrive for each stage of the work. Each one has its own crew, its own procedures, and its own insurance, so the first task in any oilfield claim is determining which company’s decision caused the injury. We obtain the contracts, the job safety analyses, and the daily reports that answer it. We then present the claim to the insurer of each company that shares responsibility.
Texas recorded 36 fatal work injuries in 2024 in the sector that covers oil and gas extraction, according to Texas fatal injury counts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Across all industries that year, contact with objects or equipment killed 91 Texas workers out of 557 workplace deaths statewide. Rig floors and pressure equipment produce the contact injuries those figures describe.
Types of Oilfield Accident Cases We Handle in Midland, TX
Our oilfield accident attorneys handle injuries from drilling, completion, and production operations across Midland County as well as the surrounding Permian Basin. The stage of the work usually determines which company was in control and which records will prove it.
- Blowouts and well control failures. An uncontrolled kick becomes a blowout, and the resulting fire or release can injure everyone on location. We examine the well control plan, the mud program, and the condition of the blowout preventer.
- Explosion accidents. Gas that escapes from a wellhead, a separator, or a tank battery ignites at the nearest source. We trace where the gas came from and which company was responsible for detecting it.
- Struck-by and caught-between injuries. Tongs, elevators, and moving pipe crush hands or limbs on the rig floor. These incidents often trace back to a rushed trip or a crew working short-handed.
- Falls from the derrick and the rig floor. Derrickhands, floorhands, and workers on tank batteries fall when fall protection is absent or an anchor point fails. We determine which company supplied the equipment and which one supervised its use.
- Pressure equipment failures. Frac iron, hoses, and valves fail under pressure when they are worn, mismatched, or run past their rating. Certification records show whether the equipment belonged on location.
- Hydrogen sulfide and chemical exposure. Sour gas and production chemicals injure the lungs, the eyes, or the skin. Monitoring records and the site’s gas detection plan show whether workers were warned in time.
- Burn injuries. Flash fires or hot fluid releases cause deep burns that need grafting and months of treatment. The claim must account for future surgery and the end of a career in the field.
- Brain injuries. A dropped object or a fall from height can cause a traumatic brain injury even when a hard hat was worn. The claim requires testing that documents the effects on memory, concentration, and the ability to work.
- Refinery accidents. Injuries at the processing plants that take Permian Basin production involve the same operator and contractor structure. We handle those claims alongside well site cases.
- Wrongful death. When a worker is killed on location, the family has a claim of its own. That claim covers the income the worker would have earned and the losses the family has suffered.
Why Choose Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers as my Oilfield Accident Lawyer in Midland, TX?
Two Eight-Figure Oilfield Recoveries
Our attorneys have recovered more than $348 million for injured clients, and two of the largest results came from oilfield cases. The first was a $20 million settlement obtained for a field worker burned after contractors left a blowout preventer valve open. The second was $12,742,882 in an oilfield injury case. A third oilfield case resolved for $3,575,000. Each of those recoveries required proof of which company on location failed in its duty, and each was prepared for trial before it settled.
That preparation is what a Midland oilfield accident attorney at our firm brings to every claim. We handle oilfield cases on a contingency fee, which means attorney fees come only out of a recovery.
Trial Lawyers Who Have Faced the Operators’ Side
Matt Greenberg has spent more than a decade on oilfield explosion, plant fire, and chemical release cases. He has been recognized by Lawdragon and the National Trial Lawyers. He prepares each oilfield case for a jury, which affects how operators and their insurers value the claim.
Mike Streich defended corporations and their insurers for nearly a decade, including in oilfield injury cases, before he began representing injured workers. He knows which records an operator gathers after an incident and how its insurer evaluates its exposure. Both attorneys put that knowledge to work for the injured side.
What Is Important to Understand About an Oilfield Accident Case?
What Is The Oilfield Accident Case Timeline?
An oilfield case moves faster at the start than most injury claims, because the evidence disappears faster. A Midland, TX oilfield accident attorney sends preservation demands to each company on location within days, covering the daily drilling reports, the job safety analyses, the equipment involved, and any video. We then obtain the master service agreements that assign safety duties among the companies. Well control consultants review that material while your treatment continues, and we do not place a value on the claim until your doctors can describe your long-term condition.
Once that point is reached, we present the claim to each company’s insurer. Operators carry layered coverage with a separate adjuster for each layer, so negotiation can take several months. Suit is filed in Midland County, or wherever a responsible company can be sued, once negotiation fails to produce fair value. Discovery then produces the depositions of company men, tool pushers, and safety supervisors. Most oilfield cases settle at or after mediation, and a case that does not settle is tried to a jury.
What Should You Bring to Your Oilfield Accident Consultation?
- Company information. Bring the names of your employer, the operator, and the other contractors on location, along with the well name or lease number.
- Incident records. Bring any incident report, drug test result, or statement you were asked to sign, and the names of crew members who saw what happened.
- Medical records. Bring hospital records, bills, and the names of your treating doctors.
- Insurance contacts. Bring letters, texts, or voicemails from any adjuster, employer representative, or company safety officer.
The consultation is free, and nothing you tell us is shared with your employer or the operator. We explain which companies appear to be responsible and what we would demand from each of them. We also answer the common oilfield injury questions that come up after a well site incident.
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Oilfield Accident Cases
Liability on a well site depends on negligence, and what negligence means in an injury claim is a failure to use the care a reasonable company would have used. An operator that pushed a crew to skip a pressure test, a contractor that sent worn iron to the location, and a manufacturer that sold a faulty pressure gauge have each breached that duty. The injured worker must connect the breach to the injury with evidence, and the records held by those companies usually supply it. Your own employer is treated differently under Texas law than the other companies on location, so we evaluate each company separately.
Four categories of loss apply to nearly every oilfield claim.
- Medical expenses. These include emergency care, surgery, rehabilitation, and the future treatment your doctors project.
- Lost earnings. A worker who misses months of oilfield wages loses more income than most injured people, and lost earning capacity covers the years ahead if you cannot return to the field.
- Noneconomic losses. Texas law lists physical pain, mental anguish, physical impairment, and disfigurement among the noneconomic damages a claimant can recover.
- Exemplary damages. A jury may award these when the evidence of gross negligence is clear and convincing, for example when an operator knowingly ran a well without working safety equipment.
What Are Important Aspects of an Oilfield Accident Case?
Four issues shape the strategy in a Permian Basin injury case, and a Midland oilfield accident lawyer addresses each of them early.
- The chain of contracts. Master service agreements between the operator and each contractor spell out who is responsible for safety on each part of the job. Those agreements determine which company answers for the hazard and which insurer pays.
- Regulatory records. The Railroad Commission district office in Midland oversees oil and gas operations in the region. Its filings identify the operator of record for the well. OSHA investigates many serious oilfield incidents, and its summary of oil and gas hazards describes the conditions an operator is expected to control.
- The deadline to file. Texas sets a two-year deadline for most injury suits, measured from the incident, and a wrongful death claim is measured from the date of death. Evidence on a well site disappears within weeks, long before that deadline approaches.
- Pressure to settle early. Operators and their insurers often make an offer before the extent of the injury is known. An early offer rarely accounts for future surgery or lost earning capacity, and accepting it ends the claim.
Reach Out to Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation
Speak with a Midland, TX oilfield accident lawyer before you accept any payment or sign any document from the operator or its insurer. We will tell you who we consider responsible and what the case is likely to require. Our fee is contingent on a recovery, and our attorneys answer new inquiries without delay. Contact us to schedule a free consultation about an oilfield injury in Midland, TX.
