If there were any doubt the small town of De Beque is becoming a hot spot for the booming energy industry, that should be dispelled by the news that Schlumberger, the international oil-and-gas services firm, has purchased almost 400 acres just outside of town.

The company plans to build a truck facility and oil and gas operations center on 140 acres of the land just south of Interstate 70, and leave the remaining 254 acres in agriculture. It could employ as many as 350 people through the facility, although most would spend their time servicing gas wells and related operations in the gas fields rather than working on site.

Perhaps most interesting is the fact that the facility’s focus will be on working with energy companies to reinvigorate existing wells whose production is starting to decline rather than on new gas wells.

Getting as much production as possible out of existing wells is certainly better than pushing for ever more new wells while available resources are left sitting in those existing ones.

People have been talking about a possible Schlumberger purchase in the De Beque area for some months, although the company only recently closed on the property.

And, like a number of other companies planning energy-related projects in the De Beque area, Schlumberger is planning to seek annexation of its property to the town.

One recent annexation approved by the town for land several miles east of De Beque along Interstate 70 caused a tiff between the town and Mesa County over what constitutes an appropriate annexation. We were glad to learn recently that officials with the town and county have been meeting regularly to attempt to iron out their differences on annexation.

However, the Schlumberger proposal suggests De Beque and Mesa County may be facing just the tip of the energy-development iceberg. They need to come to terms quickly on what should be annexed to the town, and which agricultural areas near the town should be off limits to industrialization.