It is an unexpected development even for the often surprising Elon Musk. As reported by Bloomberg, the Tesla Motors (NASDAQ: TSLA) The CEO’s SpaceX revealed at a regulatory hearing that it plans to drill for natural gas near its Boca Chica spacecraft development facility in southeastern Texas, near Brownsville.
At the hearing, conducted by the Texas Railway Commission and in order to help resolve a dispute, attorney Tim George said that SpaceX will use the methane extracted from its efforts “in connection with the operations of the rocket facilities”. No other details were immediately available. George represents Lone Star Mineral Development, the SpaceX subsidiary formed last June that will be responsible for drilling.
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This activity has not yet started because Lone Star Mineral Development is in a fight with energy rival Dallas Petroleum Group. Lone Star bought its 806-acre site from Houston’s private Mesquite Energy; Dallas Petroleum claims it has several inactive wells on the property.
Another SpaceX subsidiary, the land acquisition company Dogleg Park, claims that Dallas Petroleum has blocked SpaceX’s access to the site in an attempt to extort money from Musk’s company.
Boca Chica is where the SpaceX Starship spacecraft and the Super Heavy rocket are being developed and tested. Last month, an unmanned spacecraft prototype was launched from Boca Chica. The flight saw the Starship reach a new height record (about 40,000 feet) and achieve certain goals, although it exploded on impact during landing.
Texas is a kind of new base for Musk and his ventures, including the famous Tesla – at the moment, Tesla is building one of its Gigafactories near the capital Austin.