$22M in New Mexico lands sold to oil and gas industry amid debate on drilling impacts
A sale of New Mexico public land for oil and gas drilling brought in about $22 million, mostly from the booming Permian Basin region in the southeast corner of the state.
The auction, conducted Nov. 30 by the federal Bureau of Land Management, saw leases on about 553 acres in nine parcels sold to oil companies in New Mexico and Oklahoma
About 78 percent of the acreage leased was in New Mexico on six parcels, drawing about $22.4 million of the $22.5 million total revenue from the sale.
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Four of those parcels were in Eddy County, while the other two were in Lea County.
The most expensive parcel went to Dudley Land Company in Eddy County, at a cost of about $16 million, followed by a $4.4 million parcel sold to R&R Royalty also in Eddy County.
Three parcels in Oklahoma were sold in the sale, bringing in a total of $144,985, records show.
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Following the sale, operators will submit applications to permit drilling to the BLM before oil and gas can be extracted.
“Leasing is the first step in the process to develop federal oil and gas resources,” read a BLM statement. “The BLM reviews applications for permits to drill, posts them for public review, conducts an environmental analysis and coordinates with State partners and stakeholders.”
Oil and gas leases could threaten environment
The continued use of public land for oil and gas production in New Mexico threatened to worsen pollution and block other uses like recreation, argued environmental groups in comments submitted to the BLM ahead of the sale.
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Miya King-Flaherty, director of the Sierra Club’s Rio Grande Chapter, argued global warming was directly tied to increased oil and gas extraction, and that the BLM’s lease sales exacerbated this problem.
She argued to avoid global warming or more than 1.5 degrees Celsius – a benchmark set by the international community to prevent dangerous weather events – oil and gas investments must cease.
“Drastic reductions in fossil fuel production are required to avert catastrophic global warming,” King-Flaherty wrote in comments submitted Nov. 22.
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“Phasing out new fossil fuel leasing and drilling will mean cleaner air, cleaner water, and healthier communities,” read the comments. “If we want a healthy, sustainable future for all, we must put an end to oil and gas extraction now.”
Eddy and Lea counties, where the lands were leased to oil and gas, were identified by the State of New Mexico as having ground-level ozone levels in excess of federal air quality standards.
This could lead to the Environmental Protection Agency designating the Permian Basin region in violation of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), a move that could limit future approvals for fossil fuel production.
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King-Flaherty contended the federal government’s approval of future oil and gas operations in the region would lead to worsening air quality and health impacts for local communities.
She called on the BLM to cancel the leases.
“Roughly 53 percent of New Mexico’s greenhouse gas emissions come from oil and gas production and allowing more oil and gas leasing and drilling will mean more communities, wildlife, and the environment will be left to pay a heavy price,” she said. “Please cancel the November 2023 lease sale.”
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Kayley Shoup with Carlsbad-based Citizens Caring for the future said frontline communities like her own, where residents dwell alongside heavy oil and gas operations, were being “sacrificed” for industry needs.
“How long must we sacrifice our communities, sacred land, water, and air for the sake of oil and gas?,” Shoup said. “As emissions continue to soar, we are not only sacrificing our own communities, but also communities across the world as climate change renders more and more places unlivable.”
And Emily Wolf, New Mexico program manager with the National Parks Conservation Association worried expanded operations on public land were encroaching on resources like Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
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“These and future lease sales put the fragile cave ecosystems and public health at risk and could jeopardize the area’s crucial water supply,” she said. “Let's protect this world-renowned wonder for all to enjoy, uncontaminated.”
‘All-out-war’ on oil and gas?
Meanwhile, Republicans in the U.S. House sought to curb regulations brought forth by the administration of President Joe Biden they said would impede American energy production.
At a Wednesday meeting of the House Committee on Natural Resources, the GOP-led committee approved the Restoring American Energy Dominance Act, which would force the Interior Department to withdraw a proposal to increase fees and bonding requirements oil companies pay on wells drilled on federal land.
The bonding funds are used to pay for restoring lands where wells are abandoned by companies when deemed financial unviable, while the royalty and rental rates were raised to a level GOP leaders said was unfair to the industry, especially smaller producers.
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The rulemaking was proposed by the BLM earlier this year to align the agency with the Inflation Reduction Act pushed by the Biden administration and passed in November 2022.
Committee Chair Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said the bill would “push back on devastating Biden administration regulations.”
Sponsor Rep. Laura Boebert (R-Colo.) said congressional action was needed to reign in policy, she said, made the U.S. more reliant on foreign energy sources.
“From day one of his administration, Joe Biden administration has declared an all-out war on American energy production and exploration,” she said during the meeting. “We need to be energy, secure, energy independent and pursue energy dominance.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: $22 million in New Mexico lands leased to oil and gas industry
