A Texas company has reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the federal government and the state of New Mexico to address air pollution concerns in the largest oil and gas producing region in the United States.
HOUSTON, Dec 26 (Reuters) – The oil and gas industry went on a $250 billion buying spree in 2023, taking advantage of companies’ high stock prices to secure lower-cost reserves and prepare for the next upheaval in an industry likely to undergo more consolidation.
Attorney Gail Evans of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute speaks about pollution from oil and natural gas development and frustration with state oversight of the industry in May 2023 outside First District Court in Santa Fe.
Welcome to “Feet to the Fire: Big Oil and the Climate Crisis,” a biweekly newsletter in which we share our latest reporting on how the fossil fuel industry is driving climate change and influencing climate policy in five of the nation’s most important oil- and gas-producing states. In addition, we shine a spotlight on the financing of the fossil fuel industry, holding banks and other financial institutions accountable for their role and providing you with updates on their activities.
The Permian basin of West Texas and Southern New Mexico is the premier oil and gas basin of the U.S., and one of the most prolific basins in the world. It has helped make Texas the top oil producer in the U.S. and New Mexico number two.
Federal officials rejected a petition from New Mexico environmental groups to phase out oil and gas drilling on federal land, citing several environment and climate-related policies enacted since President Joe Biden took office in 2021.
The top-producing U.S. oil basin, the Permian, is setting records in production, although growth has slowed in recent months as the number of drilling rigs drops.
As the 2023 New Mexico legislative session rolls up to its halfway point, the state’s volunteer legislators have reoriented themselves to the Roundhouse and caught up with where they left off at the end of the 2022 session.
An oil and gas producer based on the Texas side of the Permian Basin looked to capitalize on growth in the New Mexico portion of the region, looking to buy lands in the southeast corner of the state.