Published: September 05, 2009 01:02 pm      

Warrant issued in theft of oil field pipe

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a 26-year-old Woodward man in the theft of oil field pipe worth about $13,300, according to Woodward County Sheriff Gary Stanley.

Michael Andrew Courverler is charged with allegedly taking and carrying away 143 joints of oil field pipe that belonged to CEI Petroleum on Aug. 22.

“We anticipate he was going to sell them,” Stanley said. “We have the pipes. He was (stopped) pulling them.”

“He was released, and we got warrants issued today,” Stanley said Friday.

If convicted, Courverler could be fined $100 to $50,000 and imprisoned for one to 10 years.

CEI Petroleum has been operating on a well south of Woodward by Sharon, Stanley said.

According to the affidavit for the arrest warrant, Jeff Newberry of CEI Petroleum reported oilfield pipe as allegedly stolen from a location two miles east of State Highway 34 on East-West 51.

The pipe was used in drilling a gas well, the affidavit says.

Capt. Paul Cornett of the Woodward County Sheriff’s Office and Deputy Coby Lee in searching for the pipe, found a pickup pulling a trailer with pipe leaving Pete’s Welding and turning into the Meadows Phase III addition south of Woodward, according to the affidavit.

Courverler allegedly was driving the truck.

The sheriff told Cornett not to arrest Courverler at that time, so the trailer was impounded with the pipe and Courverler was released, the affidavit says.

Lee spoke with Courverler who allegedly told him he had possessed this pipe for several months and that it had been at Pete’s Welding Shop during that time and that he was taking a few pieces down the road to his sister’s house because she wanted some of it, the affidavit says.

Because tire tracks photographed at the scene of the theft matched those on the trailer and the Ford pickup Courverler allegedly was driving, and because of other evidence found at the scene, Cornett and Lee seized the trailer and the pipe, according to the affidavit.

The owner of Pete’s Welding shop during a followup investigation allegedly told the deputies that the pipe had not been at his business for months and that it had been there for about a day, the affidavit says.

Further investigation and discussion with witnesses led to the charges being filed against Courverler and the warrant being issued.