New Mexico is short about $8 billion in financing from oil and gas companies to fund the cost of closing and cleaning up wells throughout the state.
A study released Thursday conducted by the Center for Applied Research and commissioned by the New Mexico State Land Office reported the discrepancy created a liability for state taxpayers and limited the ability of regulators to ensure adequate clean up is conducted when oil and gas wells are no longer used.
The State has about $201 million in financial assurances, the report read, paid through bonding by operators when wells are drilled and used if they go bankrupt or abandon a well.
Hannah Grover/NM Political Report
Oil and gas infrastructure could leave the state with a hefty price tag for cleanup if companies go bankrupt, according to a new analysis completed by the Center for Applied Research.
The analysis found an $8.18 billion difference between the bonds for the infrastructure in the state and the cost of cleaning up the sites. Companies issue bonds to provide financial assurance that the sites will be cleaned up in case of bankruptcy.
The Center for Applied Research is an economic consulting firm that focuses on “resource valuation and market analysis pertaining to tribal lands and state trust lands,” Chad Linse, an economist with the organization, told
Oil and gas production on New Mexico’s state public land generated a record-breaking amount of revenue last month, per official figures released Tuesday by the New Mexico State Land Office.
April 2021 netted $109 million in royalties from oil and gas production on State Trust Land, the highest in the Office’s history, per a news release.
The second- and third-highest months were both last year with $108.9 million in February 2020 and $106.3 million in April of that year.
Dollars generated from royalties paid to the State Land Office by operators were deposited into the State’s Land Grant Permanent Fund to provide funding to New Mexico’s public schools, hospitals and universities, the release read.
Carlsbad-area activists partner with Chaco Canyon groups to study impacts of oil and gas Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus
A local environmental group in Carlsbad sought to complete a health impact assessment (HIA) on oil and gas in southeast New Mexico, where they were concerned growth in fossil fuel extraction led to increases in air pollutants to the detriment of public health.
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Citizens Caring for the Future hosted a virtual meeting in April seeking input from national groups and those from northwest New Mexico’s San Juan Basin region where heavy gas extraction was credited with one of the world’s largest methane clouds above the Four Corners area.
Building New Mexico s outdoor economy
by Stephen Hamway, The Associated Press
Posted May 1, 2021 10:02 am EDT
Last Updated May 1, 2021 at 10:14 am EDT
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Ryan and Cody Dudgeon both grew up in northwest New Mexico. Both left for greener pastures in Missoula, Montana.
But after working as river guides in Montana and Idaho for 14 years, the married couple came to see the rivers that flowed through their New Mexico homes differently.
They moved back to Farmington in 2015 and are planning to start leading river-rafting expeditions on the Animas and San Juan rivers in May through their new company, Desert River Guides.