Santa Fe New Mexican – Top lawmakers on Monday rolled out a proposed $7 billion state budget that would include $600 million for public works projects around New Mexico as the government’s coffers swell with a windfall of revenue from an oil and gas boom. The Legislative Finance Committee’s proposed budget would mark almost an 11 percent increase in spending by the state. That is less than what Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has proposed in her own version of the state budget, which would raise spending by about 13 percent.

Both Governor and Legislative Committee recommend $7 billion-plus state budgets

IPANM & BLM – The BLM has named Tim Spisak as the new BLM New Mexico State Director, replacing acting state director Aden Seidlitz.  According to his bio, Spisak will oversee “the management of public lands and minerals in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. Tim has more than 34 years of government service, including time as a Petroleum Engineer, Supervisory Petroleum Engineer, Program Analysis Officer, and Administrative Officer.” More information can be found in the link below.

 Feds appoint Spisak as new BLM New Mexico State Director

Dear Members,

The Holiday Season is busy for many different reasons, but it has been especially busy for our Executive Team and staff at IPANM.

For starters, New Mexico is officially a state in transition. The results of the November elections have brought new leaders and a switch of political party control to New Mexico. For the Oil & Gas industry, the most consequential results are in the Governor’s race and State Land Office. Democratic Governor-Elect Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democratic State Land Commissioner-Elect Stephanie Garcia-Richard will officially take office on January 1, 2019. We anticipate there will be swift and dramatic actions that will change the way our industry does business in the years ahead.

IPANM comes into the 2019 Legislative Session prepared for the political transition, and ready to protect, defend and promote our industry and independent producers. I am optimistic that the anti-industry campaign rhetoric will eventually give way to the economic realities in New Mexico in 2019. Regardless of party-affiliation, all elected leaders know the record anticipated $1.1 billion state budget surplus is because of our industry; however, we need to constantly remind them of this fact, especially as they consider new regulations on our industry!

For that reason, we are preparing new opportunities for our members to get personally involved in the upcoming Legislative Session. To put it bluntly, we need your help! Please strongly consider taking advantage of our new IPANM Legislative Session Overnight Visit Opportunity (See the Message from the Executive Director in The Independent: Winter 2018-19 Edition for more information). In the next two weeks, we will be emailing members to join us for day of activities and a free overnight in Santa Fe from Jan. 15 to Mar. 16, 2019.

Finally, please enjoy the additional information in this edition regarding industry updates, organizational updates at IPANM, and an overview of our exciting, new website.

May you and your family and friends have a wonderful Christmas and Holiday Season!

Regards,

John Thomas

The New Mexico Construction Industries Division (CID) will continue electrical connections in the oilfield through December 28, 2019. Recall that earlier this year, the CID notified Utility companies that the CID would end its practice of inspecting oil and gas well customer-owned electrical facilities, including meter loops and primary distribution power lines serving oil and gas wells.  As a result, the utilities notified operators that they would not install and energize wells that have not been inspected. As result, New Mexico Oil and Gas producers have been caught in the middle of this dispute, facing uncertainty of whether electrical connections would be approved and energized.

As result of this dispute, it has now been decided through a recent Public Regulations Commission(PRC) ruling that the PRC will not require formal inspection paperwork for electrical connections, as the CID contends. For this reason, beginning after Dec. 28, Utility companies will now require a New Mexico licensed electrician to make the electrical connection with an International Code Council (ICC) certified inspector giving final sign-off approval on the connection. The key required paperwork is attached.

Thus, moving forward, producers will need to contract with third-party inspectors certified by the ICC. Please use this search engine to find available ICC certified inspectors that producers can use that will satisfy your utility company to complete the connection. Be aware that third-party inspectors will likely charge a fee for service.

IPANM is recommending that all producers contact their utility providers to confirm their procedures. We also recommend that producers DOCUMENT EVERYTHING related to your new or needed re-energized connections.

Directive from Construction Industries Division about the future of Inspections
Connection Form Required