Hobbs authorizes sale of 21.75 acres at Industrial Airpark South to Mewbourne Oil

HOBBS, N.M. — The Hobbs City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 1170 on July 6, 2026, authorizing the sale of approximately 21.75 acres in the Hobbs Industrial Airpark South Subdivision to Mewbourne Oil Company for a purchase price of $1.21 million.

The transaction has been authorized but is not yet a completed conveyance. Closing remains subject to the ordinance becoming effective, approval and recording of a single-lot replat, title review, any environmental review requested under the agreement and other contractual conditions.

Four lots would become one parcel

The property consists of the replat of Lots 8, 9, 10 and 11 in the Hobbs Industrial Airpark South Subdivision in Hobbs, Lea County. Before closing, the agreement requires the lots to be replatted into one parcel, with the approved replat recorded.

The city says the property was appraised at $1,210,000, and the purchase price is equal to the appraised fair-market value. The payment terms are:

$10,000 earnest-money deposit, applied toward the purchase price;
$1,200,000 remaining purchase balance; and
$4,000 reimbursement to the city for the appraisal.

The purchase price is $1,210,000. Because the appraisal reimbursement is separate, the agreement lists total purchaser payments of $1,214,000.

Expansion is the stated purpose

Hobbs identifies the municipal purpose as industrial and economic development through site acquisition for expansion of existing oil-and-gas services.

The purchase agreement states that Mewbourne owns and operates industrial facilities at 4801 W. Business Park Blvd. in Hobbs and intends to use the property for future industrial expansion and related industrial operations. The agreement also says Mewbourne is undertaking capital investment and expansion of existing facilities in the area.

The New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department’s Oil Conservation Division lists Mewbourne Oil Co. as a well operator with a Hobbs address and active New Mexico entities. That state record provides context about the company’s existing presence but does not establish what will ultimately be built or operated on the parcel.

Closing depends on several conditions

The agreement sets a closing date no later than Dec. 31, 2026, unless the parties mutually extend it. It also says the closing date may be extended by mutual agreement for up to 365 days after adoption of the ordinance. Closing cannot occur until the ordinance authorizing the sale becomes effective.

Ordinance No. 1170 states that it becomes effective 45 days after adoption unless a referendum election is held. The agreement also requires Mewbourne to obtain approvals for and record the replat creating a single lot before closing.

The city must provide title information, and Mewbourne has a contractual period to review title exceptions. Mewbourne may conduct a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment at its own expense. If the purchaser requests that assessment, the agreement provides time to review the report and raise objections. If a contingency is not satisfied or waived within the agreement’s deadlines, the contract may become null and void and the earnest-money deposit is to be returned under the stated terms.

Industrial-use limits remain

The agreement does not require immediate development of the parcel. It says the city determined that immediate development was not required in light of Mewbourne’s existing industrial operations and ongoing investment in the Hobbs Industrial Air Park.

Mewbourne must retain ownership for industrial and related business purposes consistent with the subdivision’s protective covenants. Hobbs also retains a right of repurchase under specified conditions, including certain sales, assignments, conveyances or transfers without prior City Commission approval.

The repurchase option may terminate when Mewbourne demonstrates private capital investment constructed on the property equal to or greater than four times the purchase price, when 10 years have passed from closing, or when the City Commission approves releasing the option. The agreement says the option runs with the land and is to be recorded in Lea County property records.

The documents reviewed do not specify a job count, construction scope, construction schedule, tax-revenue estimate, operating changes or a commitment to build new infrastructure. The agreement says the purchase price includes access to standard city industrial-park infrastructure and utility services under the city’s utility service policy; it does not promise new infrastructure construction.

Sources

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