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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico industry leaders respond to the question: “What lasting impact do you believe the pandemic will have on your industry?”
ENERGY
Raye Miller, president of Regeneration Energy Corp. in Artesia
“The oil industry has seen wide price swings in the past year. No one expected to see negative oil prices. While prices have recovered, capital investment has not. Drilling rig utilization is still greatly below a year ago level. Consolidation has occurred and some highly leveraged companies went broke. While new lockdowns could again reduce demand for oil, companies are in better shape to withstand it. Most are reducing debt currently. The greater worry for the future is the drive to stop domestic production of fossil fuels. This strategy is so shortsighted as the U.S. will continue to use fossil fuels for years and every barrel produced outside the U.S. results in more emissions and pollution than if it is produced here. Let’s hope our leadership realizes that fact.”