New Mexico

Is New Mexico’s oil and gas reliance sustainable?

Published

3 years ago

May 28, 2022

Is New Mexico’s oil and gas reliance sustainable?

About $9 billion in income was anticipated within the subsequent fiscal 12 months for New Mexico, per a state monetary report, about $1.6 billion greater than was spent in FY 2022’s whole allocation of $8.4 billion.

Eddy County Supervisor Allen Davis mentioned all that cash got here from the oil and fuel business in southeast New Mexico’s Permian Basin area.

He urged lawmakers to reinvest in what he characterised because the state’s largest cash maker, accounting for as much as 35 p.c of New Mexico’s price range.

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“Profitable firms reinvest of their highly effective financial drivers for his or her companies for his or her continued to success,” Davis mentioned. “Investing to assist one of many state’s strongest financial drivers would appear prudent for the longer term success of New Mexico.”

His feedback got here throughout a gathering of the Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) Might 18 in Artesia, because the group made up of New Mexico lawmakers prepares to challenge its subsequent price range suggestion by the tip of the 12 months forward of the 2023 Legislative Session beginning in January.

Fiscal years in New Mexico run from June 30 to July 1 of every 12 months, and initially of the lawmaking session the LFC recommends how state cash ought to be budgeted for the following 12 months.

Extra:Oil and fuel land sale in New Mexico a month away as teams protest environmental impacts

Davis mentioned financial planning for the state was depending on oil and fuel he mentioned his county led the state in, together with neighboring Lea County.

Data present Eddy County was the third-highest contributor of gross receipts, or gross sales, tax income to the State of New Mexico at about $1.8 million a month, or 10 p.c, within the first quarter of 2022.

Eddy County was solely behind Lea County, which can also be within the prolific Permian Basin oilfield, and the state’s largest city space in Bernalillo County.

Extra:Merger prioritizes Permian Basin oil and fuel manufacturing as area sees document progress

Whereas Eddy County has solely about 6 p.c of the state’s inhabitants, Davis mentioned it contributes a complete of about 20 p.c of New Mexico’s tax income.

And that’s as a result of monetary may of oil and fuel, he mentioned.

He mentioned of the 1,500 oil and fuel wells drilled in New Mexico final 12 months, 96 p.c – 1,436 have been in Eddy and Lea counties.

Extra:Oil and fuel threatens lizard native to southern New Mexico. Here is what’s being performed

The state produces about 40 million barrels of oil a month, Davis mentioned, with 16 million coming from Eddy and 22 million coming from Lea.

For pure fuel, 80 billion cubic toes (CF) of New Mexico’s whole of 200 billion CF per 30 days got here from Eddy, he mentioned, and 70 billion from Lea.

About 60 p.c of Eddy County’s 2.7 million acres have been federally-owned, Davis mentioned, which means the realm was closely impacted by federal vitality coverage, in contrast with largely-unencumbered counties West Texas which is generally non-public land.

Extra:How a lot does oil and fuel spend to oppose environmental guidelines in New Mexico?

When he took workplace in 2021, President Joe Biden’s administration enacted a brief halt on new federal oil and fuel leases.

This stymied progress within the state’s Permian Basin area, Davis mentioned, as rising rig counts all through the basin, which is shared with Texas, weren’t mirrored in New Mexico.

“With the entire federal property that’s utilized by the oil and fuel business, when actions are taken that put a threat on that property, whether or not it’s an govt order, issues like that, non-public firms have a selection,” Davis mentioned.

“They will select the place they make investments their cash. The rocks don’t acknowledge state strains.”

Extra:New Mexico might make billions extra from oil and fuel with larger royalty charge, examine says

The significance of oil and fuel produced in southeast New Mexico might turn out to be more and more apparent, Davis mentioned, as demand rose amid restoration from the COVID-19 pandemic and the removing of Russia – the world’s second-largest oil producer – from the worldwide market following its invasion of Ukraine.

“Our manufacturing helps meet the present demand that’s rising and rising on the planet. That’s what’s driving our costs,” Davis mentioned. “There’s an inadequate provide to fulfill the demand that exists so costs proceed to climb. The income from oil and fuel is a major engine for New Mexico.”

LFC member Sen. Homosexual Kernan (R-42) argued the business in southeast New Mexico contributes not solely to the area, however all of New Mexico.

“As communities within the space, we profit as properly,” she mentioned. “However when you have a look at it, lots of the assets are distributed all through the state in each neighborhood.”

Oil and fuel’ ups and downs proceed to impression New Mexico

Geoff Jay, a associate with Houston-based vitality consulting agency Daniel Power Companions backed up Davis’ assertions as to the importance of the Permian Basin and southeast New Mexico for oil manufacturing and the significance of fossil fuels within the coming years.

Extra:Do you reside within the ‘risk radius?’ Permian Basin at excessive threat of oil and fuel well being impression

He mentioned COVID-19 induced dramatic volatility in gas markets, disrupting world demand.

On April 20, 2020, a few month after the virus was present in New Mexico, oil plummeted to -$40 – the primary time in recorded historical past it fell beneath $0 a barrel.

Drilling exercise in New Mexico dropped by 50 p.c, with manufacturing falling by 25 p.c, Jay mentioned.

Extra:Permian Basin sees continued progress, mergers amid excessive oil costs, elevated operations

He mentioned demand returned to earlier ranges this 12 months, two years after the pandemic, and have been despatched even larger amid the battle in Ukraine to greater than $100 a barrel for a lot of the spring.

“These altering fortunes have had a big effect on New Mexico,” Jay mentioned to the LFC. “You will have the unenviable process of setting a price range partly funded by a commodity that was value lower than nothing two years in the past and is now reaching the highs of 2008 after we believed the world was working out of oil.”

The LFC printed its post-session monetary report in April, persevering with to tie New Mexico’s financial success to grease and fuel, reporting regrowth available in the market accounted for about 60 p.c of New Mexico’s improve basically fund income.

Extra:Chevron expects continued Permian Basin progress amid world vitality volatility

“New Mexico oil manufacturing continued to achieve new data as robust costs encourage fast withdrawal of assets within the state,” the report learn.

However the report warned that the state’s dependence on oil and fuel might set it up for future vulnerabilities as a result of business’s conventional increase and bust nature.

“New Mexico is experiencing unprecedented income progress as oil and fuel manufacturing within the state grows quickly and oil costs climb,” learn the report.

“The state’s robust reliance on the oil and fuel business creates a extremely unstable tax construction depending on the booms and busts of the business.”

The report prompt diversifying New Mexico’s economic system and vitality manufacturing to incorporate renewable sources like wind and photo voltaic, a transfer that would mitigate air pollution and likewise insulate the state from future financial melancholy.

“Because the world transitions away from fossil fuels, the state will seemingly want to think about viable methods to carry wind, photo voltaic, and hydrogen-based vitality into its recurring tax base whereas balancing the taxation of renewable vitality with the state’s competitiveness for the business to develop,” learn the report.

Adrian Hedden may be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

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New Mexico

Snowy and slick Thursday expected in New Mexico

Published

5 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

Snowy and slick Thursday expected in New Mexico

We’re expecting widespread light snow Thursday in New Mexico. See the latest forecast at KOB.com/Weather.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The snow was falling and the roads were slick to start Thursday in parts of New Mexico and it’s likely that will continue throughout the day.

We’ll see on and off scattered snow showers, especially in parts of southern New Mexico. That will become more widespread with blowing snow possible.

A winter weather advisory is still in effect until Friday morning for 1-3 inches of snow expected and 5-6 inches of snow in higher-elevation areas. It encompasses most of southern New Mexico and stretches just above Interstate 40 near Tucumcari, heading toward the Texas state line.

High temperatures will be at least 10° below average for pretty much everyone.

Meteorologist Kira Miner shares all the details in her full forecast in the video above.

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New Mexico

New Mexico sending firefighters to California

Published

13 hours ago

January 9, 2025

Press Room

New Mexico sending firefighters to California

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) — The state of New Mexico announced it is sending five fire engines and 25 New Mexico firefighters to assist in fighting the California wildfires.

The departments participating are from Bernalillo, San Juan, and Los Alamos Counties, as well as the cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe. The units and firefighters will leave for California on January 9 at 9 a.m.

The state of New Mexico is also warning residents that high winds and dry conditions make the state at high risk for fires as well. Residents are encouraged to clear dry brush from around their homes and keep anything flammable away from heat sources.

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New Mexico

Survey finds more than half of New Mexicans have experienced sexual violence • Source New Mexico

Published

20 hours ago

January 8, 2025

Press Room

Survey finds more than half of New Mexicans have experienced sexual violence • Source New Mexico

This story discusses sexual violence. For anyone in need of support, please call, text or chat the New Mexico Sexual Assault Helpline at 1-844-667-2457 or nmsahelp.org.

More than half of all New Mexicans have been sexually assaulted or raped at some point in their life, and 40% have been the victim of some kind of sexual violence while in New Mexico in the past year, according to a report published Wednesday.

Researchers from the Catherine Cutler Institute at the University of Southern Maine set out to understand how often people in New Mexico become victims of sexual violence, how often they report it and how often they seek help.

They surveyed 1,272 people between September 2023 and June 2024, and 54% of the people who responded said they had either been raped or sexually assaulted within their lifetime. “This rate translates to more than 1.1 million New Mexico residents,” the authors wrote.

The findings mark the first new New Mexico sexual violence crime victimization survey data in nearly two decades, the authors wrote. The last one was conducted between 2005 and 2006.

Researchers collected the data for the New Mexico Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, a nonprofit that provides technical assistance to more than 60 sexual assault service providers, sexual assault nurse examiners, child advocacy centers and community mental health centers.

In an interview with Source, Alexandria Taylor, the coalition’s executive director, said she thinks a lack of funding is the primary explanation for why it’s been so long since the last survey.

Taylor said the findings validate and quantify what she has known anecdotally for years: sexual assault is present in many people’s lives.

“All of our service providers, whether it’s our substance use treatment centers, our schools, our places of employment — even our places of incarceration — they’re all serving survivors of sexual assault,” she said.

Rachel Cox, the coalition’s deputy director of programs, told Source she was surprised the report gave her some hope they can actually address the prevalence of sexual assault, because it shows neither victims nor perpetrators of sexual violence are exceptional.

“We’re really talking about something that vicariously impacts everyone in New Mexico,” she said.

While counts of sexual violence victims commonly derived from service organizations and police reports are informative, they are also “certainly undercounts,” the report states.

Researchers asked New Mexicans about their experiences with four kinds of sexual violence: stalking, rape, sexual assault and domestic violence. Forty percent said they had been the victim of at least one of these crimes within the last 12 months while they were in New Mexico.

The research was funded by the Crime Victims Reparation Commission, a state agency that helps crime victims recover losses resulting from being victimized, and provides federal grants to other organizations serving them.

In a news release attached to the report, the coalition outlined its priorities for the upcoming legislative session to boost support for survivors and evidence-based prevention education.

The group plans to ask the Legislature to set aside $3 million to the Department of Health for prevention initiatives, $2 million to the Health Care Authority for medical and counseling needs, and $2 million to the Crime Victims Reparation Commission for providers and the New Mexico Sexual Assault Helpline.

The report also noted that 68% of victims of sexual assault and 75% of victims of rape did not seek support.

State law prohibits reparations to people victimized in prison

As researchers conducted the survey, they also sought to find disparities between demographic groups.

For example, people who have been incarcerated have the highest overall rate of victimization: 69%. They were also more likely to have been the victim of stalking than any other group.

Formerly incarcerated New Mexicans were also less likely to seek victim services, and more likely to have experienced “significant problems” with their job or schoolwork as a result of being victimized, the researchers found.

The group with the next highest rate of victimization was homeless people, at 68%.

Taylor said people who are most systemically impacted either have experienced sexual violence or are at greater risk of experiencing it. Cox said incarcerated and unhoused people can be some of the most invisible in society.

The findings are notable, in part, because New Mexico law does not allow reparations to people who were victimized while they were incarcerated. Taylor said it can’t be ignored that people who do harm and end up incarcerated have also themselves experienced harm and need healing.

“That’s where we have to use what we know from the individual level to impact things at the policy level,” she said.

Transgender or nonbinary people were more likely than cisgender people to have been raped, and Black respondents were more likely than other races to have been raped.

Perpetrators of rape were most commonly identified as casual acquaintances of the victims, at 34%; followed by a former partner or spouse, 30%; a current partner or spouse, 23%, and finally a stranger, 22%.

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