The fact that New Mexico’s oil and gas industry is not fully compliant complicates the task of monitoring compliance. Nearly a third (33%) of all public land is federally-owned. The Bureau of Land Management oversees close to 4.3 million acres of federal oil & gas leases, second only Wyoming.
According to the federal Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONR), these royalties generated more than $2.3 billion in 2021. According to data from the revenue office, New Mexico was second only to the Gulf of Mexico in terms of federal oil and gas revenue.
The Interior Department has an office that collects royalties for mineral extraction on federal and tribe lands. They then distribute the money to government agencies, funds, tribes, and state governments. New Mexico was the largest state beneficiary in 2021 with more than $1.1 Billion, almost half of all state disbursements.
Apart from the Oil Conservation DivisionNew Mexico’s oil and gas industry is governed by the federal BLM, the state Environmental Improvement Board and the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Eisenfeld called this a jurisdictional morass.
Atencio stated that Counselor is a place where federal, state, and tribal lands are woven together like a checkerboard.
He said, “You’re dumping hundreds upon tons of volatile organic compound into the landscape, but we don’t know who it is.”
Howard Center satellite data revealed that New Mexico oil and gas producers flared more than 138,000 million cubic feet of gas on federal lands. That’s nearly half of the state’s gas production between 2012 and 2020, according to Howard Center. A spokesperson for the BLM said that these volumes were fairly accurate, based upon data from federal regulatory agencies.rs.
The Oil Conservation Division claims it enforces state laws on federal lands. New Mexico, however, has not signed a memorandum or formal agreement with the BLM to establish interagency cooperation. This is unlike Colorado.
ColoThe rados memorandum states that the BLM invites state regulators to inspect federal oil and gas operations on-site and that they consult each other on permitting and enforcement.
Richard Packer, spokesperson for the BLM, stated that federal regulators in New Mexico are not authorized to enforce state laws. This includes rules regarding natural gas flaring and venting.
Packer stated in an email that instead, federal and state regulators communicate in quarterly meetings and impromptu phone calls on environmental issues.
The BLM employs more than seven-fold the number of oil and gas inspectors as New Mexico’s 85 oil and natural gas inspectors. Thirty-eight work out of Farmington, in San Juan Basin.
Eisenfeld has been an outspoken environmentalist in Farmington for 26 years. Farmington is a strong historical and econometrically oriented city.There are many ties to the oil-and-gas industry.
He lives right next to the Glade Run Recreation Area in north Farmington. The BLM manages 19,000 acre of juniperbrush, mountain bike paths, and wells that lead to an arterial network of pump jacks or pipes.
