Bid to overhaul New Mexico oil and gas regulations clears first hurdle amid litigation

By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An effort to modernize state oversight of a thriving petroleum industry in the nation’s No. 2 state for oil production has advanced past its first committee vetting at the New Mexico Legislature. Endorsed Thursday, the bill would rewrite portions of the state’s 1930s-era Oil and Gas Act in efforts to help regulators keep pace with the industry’s meteoric growth in recent years. Bill sponsors deleted initial provisions that would have established no-drilling buffer zones around schools. The bill advanced on 6-5 committee vote over the objections of small oil producers. Industry heavyweights Occidental Petroleum and EOG Resources support the changes.