New Mexico legislators have so far proposed 19 bills this session that could directly — and at times dramatically — change how the oil and gas industry operates in the state. If passed, most would be carried out by one of two state agencies, both facing tight funding exacerbated by years of explosive growth in the oil and gas sector. And the head of the state’s Legislative Finance Committee has threatened to cut funding to one of the agencies and threatened its secretary with legal action.
If it were a country, New Mexico today would be the 11th largest oil producer in the world, just behind Kuwait. But as oil production has leapt — more than 560% in the past decade — funding has fallen behind at the New Mexico Environment Department and the Oil Conservation Division.
