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Anti-Industry Politics

Anti-Industry Politics

As the voice of Independent producers in New Mexico, IPANM’s mission is protect, defend, and promote the work of our members and all of industry. New Mexico’s future and America’s future needs to be shaped by a policy of energy freedom. This “all of the above” approach is fundamental to ensuring all sources of energy–including fossil fuels–can compete to produce safe, reliant, and affordable energy to better the human condition. However, dangerous forces are pushing against energy freedom. Local, state, and federal governments are under the thumb of disingenuous environmental groups who want to pick-and-choose energy winners, under the guise of climate change. With governments already mobilized to kill the oil and gas industry in favor of unreliable and expensive renewable sources, New Mexico & America stand to lose jobs and domestic security. Furthermore, reducing fossil fuel supplies disproportionately hurts those in poverty (18% of New Mexicans). The “Green New Deal” and other progressive policies must be exposed for what they are: a pathway to self-inflicted, socio-economic suffering. With a weakened domestic energy landscape, Americans will beholden to nefarious foreign governments (such as Russia and China). As already demonstrated, these foreign powers do not have the best interests of the people or the planet at heart.

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Anti-Industry Politics

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IPANM Files EPA Methane Rule Comments Through Consortium
IPANM (Feb. 14, 2023) - IPANM joined 20 other producer associations today in filing comprehensive comments that represent many concerns
Report: Curbing US Oil & Gas Production Would Hurt the Environment
Institute for Energy Research (Feb. 14, 2023) - Environmentalists seeking to halt U.S. oil and gas production in the name
Lane: Natural Gas is a Lifeline for the Poor
IPANN at the 2023 Legislative Session in Santa Fe (Feb. 1, 2023) - Republican House Minority Leader Ryan Lane addressed
IPANM Files Comments on BLM's Waste Rule
IPANM (Jan. 30, 2023) - Today IPANM filed comprehensive comments on BLM's proposed Federal Waste Prevention Methane Rule. In its
Nibert: Economic Diversity Won't Replace Oil & Gas Dollars
Santa Fe New Mexican (January 15, 2023) - Within today’s political arena, New Mexico’s progressive policymakers and advocates are constantly
Biden Promises "No More Drilling" One Day After Demanding More Drilling
Forbes (November 11, 2022) -- Stumping for embattled New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers Sunday,
Electric Vehicles Worse For Environment Than Gasoline Cars
Real Clear Investigations (Oct. 27, 2022) - As California, New York, and other states move to phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars, public officials routinely
Permian Growth Could Be Blocked By State Policy
Carlsbad Current Argus (Oct. 21, 2022) - Southeast New Mexico saw some of is highest oil production in the last
Industry Defends Against 'Prohibitive' Policy in New Mexico
Carlsbad Current Argus (Oct. 20, 2022) - Oil and gas industry leaders in New Mexico and the Permian Basin said
Businesses Urge Biden To Boost Domestic Energy Production
The Center Square (Oct. 6, 2022) — Business leaders across the country have joined together to call on the Biden
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Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico

IPANM Administrative Offices
P.O. Box 6101, Roswell, New Mexico, 88202
Bus. - 575-622-2566 | Fax. - 575-622-2566

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Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico

IPANM Administrative Offices
P.O. Box 6101, Roswell, New Mexico, 88202
Phone 575-622-2566

Search

Website designed by Siarza Social Digital

Natural Gas

WTI Crude Oil

IPANM (Feb. 14, 2023) – IPANM joined 20 other producer associations today in filing comprehensive comments that represent many concerns over EPA’s proposed Federal Methane Rule, Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2021-0317. IPANM has participated in the “Producer Associations” consortium for the past few years, and many concerns voiced by IPANM were included in the final comment documents submitted today.

The comments include the following overview:

“The message the Producer Associations have consistently conveyed since 2011 is “one size does not fit all.” Generally speaking, EPA’s response has been to regulate exploration and production (“E&P”) emission sources to the extent that EPA believes it can “survive”/continue to exist – that is not the “best system of emission reduction” (“BSER”) as required by Section 111 of the Clean Air Act (“CAA”). [The Producer Associations] T comments are intended to identify the most detrimental and unsupported proposals by EPA and provide alternatives that
provide the equivalent or nearly the equivalent environmental benefits as substantially less cost and confusion to the Oil and Gas Industry, in particular the small business that are disproportionally impacted by these proposed regulations.”

To read the full text of the Producer Associations 48-page comments, please click below.

Feb. 14, 2023 Producer Associations Final Comments on Federal Methane Rule

 

Institute for Energy Research (Feb. 14, 2023) – Environmentalists seeking to halt U.S. oil and gas production in the name of combating climate change are undermining their own agenda and risking greater damage to the planet, according to a new report.

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) released a paper showing that the U.S. is the most environmentally friendly major energy producer and arguing that, like it or not, because petroleum products are here to stay, limiting U.S. production would have a devastating effect on the environment.

IER’s report writes, “The great irony is that this political movement – which purports to be about protecting the environment – results in oil and natural gas production moving from countries with the highest environmental standards to countries with lower, or even functionally zero, environmental standards.”

The Environmental Quality Index

Fox News: Curbing US oil, gas production would hurt the environment, report finds

 

 

IPANN at the 2023 Legislative Session in Santa Fe (Feb. 1, 2023) – Republican House Minority Leader Ryan Lane addressed the full House floor this week to point out the need to take care of the must vulnerable in our state. Without access to Natural Gas as a cheap and reliable energy source, those struggling to heat homes will turn to dirtier forms of energy production that are far more hazardous to personal health.  Please see the video clips below to hear his testimony.  Among his statements:

  • “The poorist among us desperately need access to affordable and reliable energy.  If we are serious about the environment, which I believe this body is, then I think we also need to be serious about delivering affordable and reliable energy.”
  • “New Mexico is actually positioned incredibly well.  We have access to some of the cleanest natural gas in the entire world.”

Download Video of Rep. Lane’s Testimony

 

IPANM (Jan. 30, 2023) – Today IPANM filed comprehensive comments on BLM’s proposed Federal Waste Prevention Methane Rule. In its filing, IPANM fully endorses the joint comments filed by Western Energy Alliance (WEA) and the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA). Furthermore, IPANM highlights three areas of major concerns as expressed in our filing:

Duplicative Regulation

The BLM is proposing regulations addressing oil storage controls in Section 3179.203, pneumatic controllers in Section 3179.201 and Section 3179.303 Leak Detection and Repair.   These aspects are already addressed by either the EPA or the state air quality agencies.   BLM’s regulation of air quality aspects, particularly those which are under the jurisdiction of the EPA or state agencies is duplicative and should not be included in the final rule.

Provisions for Unavoidably Lost 

Section 3179.4(b) provides a list of “unavoidably lost” gas.   IPANM is concerned that the BLM has thoroughly evaluated the different types of hydraulic fracturing techniques being used by operators.  In some cases, during flowback after hydraulic fracturing, depending upon the technique used, some gas may have impurities that make it not salable to the gas gatherer.   Such an example would be when nitrogen foam fracs are performed.  In these cases the flowback gas will have more nitrogen making it not possible for the gas gatherer to accept it.  In these cases, the gas must be flared until it can meet pipeline specifications.   For this reason, IPANM suggests an additional category in this subsection (b) which allows “Flaring of gas due to impurities in the gas that make it non-saleable to a pipeline”.

Well Completion and Related Operations 

In Section 3179.102 the BLM is proposing that only 10,000 Mcf of gas that reaches the surface may be flared royalty free for new completions.  This is far too low a volume.  IPANM recommends this volume be doubled to 20,000 Mcf which was in the BLM proposal in which was proposed by BLM in the 2016 rule.   This volume threshold is much more equitable and provides the necessary flexibility for higher volume wells.

A copy of IPANM’s full filing can be found below.

IPANM Files Comments on BLM’s Waste Rule

 

Santa Fe New Mexican (January 15, 2023) – Within today’s political arena, New Mexico’s progressive policymakers and advocates are constantly saying how necessary it is to diversify our state’s economy. These statements are related to the budgetary and economic dilemma progressives are creating by continuing their “long game” of destroying New Mexico’s oil and natural gas industry, while also ultimately eliminating billions of dollars in state revenues this industry generates.

Of course, progressives are more than happy to spend these revenues to push New Mexico toward their socialist nirvana. Therefore, to solve this inevitable budget predicament, progressives have to champion the diversification message to justify the worthiness of their efforts to eliminate New Mexico’s fossil fuel industry, yet still have state money to spend in the future.

Unfortunately, the reality of this diversification mantra is that it is a complete fallacy. There is simply no reasonable economic growth strategy that will be able to replace the magnitude of state revenues created by the oil and natural gas industry. These revenues now account for about 45% of state government’s operating budget — approximately $4.5 billion per year — and there is no industry or economic miracle looming on the horizon that can come close to generating this amount of money annually.

Further, when consideration is given to New Mexico having the worst public education system in the nation and a long-standing reputation of being anti-business, there is no reason a future Bill Gates or Elon Musk is going to locate their high-tech business in our state. Nor can progressives enact enough tax increases in the future to replace all of the oil and natural gas revenues currently being collected. For example, to produce an additional $4.5 billion each year, taxes would have to be increased the equivalent of more than $2,100 for each man, woman and child in New Mexico year after year.

Of course, progressives will argue the successful diversification of our economy is already underway with the growing presence of the movie industry and the recent legalization of cannabis. However, what these progressives will not say is that taxpayers already subsidize the movie industry to the tune of $110 million per year, and where will these millions come from once oil and natural gas revenues dry up? Will the movie industry stay in New Mexico if subsidies are eliminated? In regards to cannabis, progressives will likely not point out recent revenue estimates are showing the cannabis excise tax will generate only $34.8 million in state revenue by fiscal year 2027. That’s right, the great revenue generator rationale for legalizing cannabis will result in nothing more than a preverbal “drop in the bucket” of future state revenues.

New Mexicans need to ask progressive policymakers and advocates how this future $4.5 billion (and growing) budget hole is going to be filled. Not surprisingly, they have no real answers to this question, except wishful dreams of offering more government subsidies to somehow lure businesses to our state. Yet, they are marching in lockstep deciding how to spend every penny of the newly estimated $3.6 billion in surplus money the oil and natural gas industry has helped provide for next year’s state budget. Apparently, making promises of free child care, free school lunches for every student, free college educations, and more government spending for health care, housing and anti-poverty programs is a lot more fun than being honest with the people as to who is going to pay for all of these new government benefits once the oil and natural gas industry is shut down.

State Rep. Greg Nibert is a Republican from Roswell.

Nibert: Economic Diversity Won’t Replace Oil & Gas Dollars

 

Forbes (November 11, 2022) — Stumping for embattled New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers Sunday, the President responded to a shouted question from an audience member about his longstanding promises to shut down fracking and new drilling on federal lands and waters by saying “no more drilling…there is no more drilling…I haven’t formed any new drilling.” The Biden administration has not just approved more drilling for oil and gas on federal lands and waters, it has boasted about how many new permits it has issued for such operations whenever the moment was convenient for its purposes, including a recent claim it has issued 9,000 new drilling permits during its 22 months in office. But the President’s responses to these questions, while not accurate, do betray his mindset on the matter, which he has expressed repeatedly from the beginning of his presidential campaign in mid-2019. Simply put, the regulatory and legislative agenda of the Biden administration has pushed to restrict and, where possible, eliminate drilling for oil and natural gas in the United States.

Lunacy: Biden Promises “No More Drilling” One Day After Demanding More Drilling

 

Real Clear Investigations (Oct. 27, 2022) – As California, New York, and other states move to phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars, public officials routinely echo the Biden administration’s claim that electric vehicles are a “zero emissions” solution that can significantly mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Car and energy experts, however, say there is no such thing as a zero-emissions vehicle: For now and the foreseeable future, the energy required to manufacture and power electric cars will leave a sizable carbon footprint. In some cases hybrids can be cleaner alternatives in states that depend on coal to generate electricity, and some suggest that it may be too rash to write off all internal combustion vehicles just yet. 

“I have a friend who drives a Kia he’s had for about 15 years,” said Ashley Nunes, a research fellow at Harvard Law School. “He called me and said, ‘Hey, I’m thinking of buying a Tesla. What do you think?’” 

“I said, ‘If you care about the environment, keep the Kia,’” Nunes said. 

Electric Vehicles Worse For Environment Than Gasoline Cars

 

 

Carlsbad Current Argus (Oct. 21, 2022) – Southeast New Mexico saw some of is highest oil production in the last decade, with the most barrels of crude oil reported produced in 2021 in the history of the region, said Hanson Yates, president of Artesia-based Santo Petroleum.

Santo is drilling two new wells in the Carlsbad area, Yates said, and planned to continue targeting the region for future growth.

At the Carlsbad Mayor’s Energy Summit Thursday, Yates rallied for fossil fuel production in the region encompassing parts of Eddy, Lea, Chaves and Roosevelt counties, calling for expanded domestic operations centered on the Permian and the western Delaware sub-basin.

He said heightened growth in the Delaware, which covers southeast New Mexico’s portion of the Permian, began in the 2010s when horizontal wells were half of about 11,000 new wells drilled that decade.

“In the 2010s, southeast New Mexico began a time of increased growth in oil and gas,” Yates said. “It’s really a golden age.”

Two years into the 2020s, Yates said growth was expected to continue and could even overtake the “golden age.”

The last eight years were the eighth most productive in southeast New Mexico’s history, Yates said, and 2022 could already be considered the fourth-most productive year with more than two months left.

Permian Growth Could Be Blocked By State Policy

Carlsbad Current Argus (Oct. 20, 2022) – Oil and gas industry leaders in New Mexico and the Permian Basin said they were fighting to defend fossil fuels during a shifting political landscape and government agendas seeking to transition to lower-polluting forms of energy.

The State recently tightened requirements on oil and gas operations at both the New Mexico Environment Department and its Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department intending to curtail air-polluting emissions like methane from extraction activities throughout the state.

These rulemakings were part of an overall push by the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to reduce environmental impacts and transition away from oil and gas – an industry that makes up about a third of New Mexico’s budget.

Jim Winchester, president of the Independent Petroleum of New Mexico said the environmentalist agenda of the state imposed “prohibitive” costs on New Mexico’s operators.

His comments came during a panel discussion as part of the annual Mayor’s Energy Summit, a gathering of oil and gas executives and industry supporters held Thursday in Carlsbad, and amid the Association’s lawsuit against the NMED’s rules which Winchester said were unfair to the small producers his group represents.

He said the industry must make its case for continued oil and gas production to state lawmakers, with the 2023 Legislative Session in Santa Fe planned to begin in January.

“The rules go a little further than they need to with respect to small producers,” Winchester said. “We support good environmental regulation. What we are seeking is a good, level playing field.”

Full Article:  Oil and Gas Industry Defends Itself Against ‘Prohibitive’ Policy in New Mexico

The Center Square (Oct. 6, 2022) — Business leaders across the country have joined together to call on the Biden administration to boost domestic energy production and to abandon a proposal to ban new offshore lease sales.

More than 200 local chambers of commerce in 47 states and 14 national associations penned a letter to President Joe Biden to urge him “to strengthen our energy security by removing impediments to greater domestic energy production.”

“High energy prices remain a major concern for businesses throughout the United States and are a leading cause of inflation,” the letter read. “Businesses of all sizes are facing burdens from increased costs for goods, services, and transportation, which combined with tight labor markets, presents major headwinds for the U.S. economy.”

The letter argued that addressing climate change and energy security “are not mutually exclusive” and increasing domestic oil and natural gas production can “accelerate the energy transition” while simultaneously curbing cash to Russia and improving the lives of Americans.

“Also, Russian oil is among the dirtiest in the world, so displacing it with cleaner, less carbon intensive U.S. production would bring obvious environmental benefits,” the letter read.

Businesses Urge Biden To Boost Domestic Energy Production