New Mexico

The New Mexico State Land Office announced that it will be halting the practice of allowing fresh water to be pumped from state trust land and sold for use in oil and gas development.

New Mexico’s state treasurer is calling on state environmental regulators to close loopholes in proposed rules aimed at reducing emissions of methane and other pollutants from the oil and natural gas industry.

New Mexico has proposed rules that would require its oil and gas industry to capture at least 98% of its emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas methane by 2026, a standard it said would be among the strongest in the nation.

New Mexico state regulators vowed to keep the oil and gas industry in check during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent market collapse, as some groups worried that shut-in wells and other cost-saving measures could lead to operators flouting environmental regulations.

The COVID-19 disaster and a catastrophic fall in oil prices could leave the state on the hook for billions in environmental cleanup costs if oil and gas companies go bankrupt during the health crisis, New Mexico's top land official says.

A recently completed health impact assessment in New Mexico found periodic spikes of formaldehyde and other pollutants associated with oil and gas development recorded at unsafe levels for short periods of time near homes. 

As studies point to increased emissions, ExxonMobil is stepping up efforts to detect and mitigate methane release.

Officials in southeastern New Mexico are struggling to monitor sewage problems from hundreds of camps used to house transient oilfield workers.

New Mexico released data on excess greenhouse emissions from oil and gas operations to keep the public informed of the problem, as the state continues to develop stricter policies to regulate air pollution from the industry and other sources.

Output fell below 12 million B/D and was down more than 300,000 B/D from an all-time high in April, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.