New federal oil and gas rule could impact New Mexico
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced revised rules for oil and gas leasing on federal land. And some advocates in New Mexico say the rules help New Mexico.
The BLM leases land across the southwest to oil and gas companies. The rules and framework governing those leases haven’t been updated in decades. But now, newly revised rules bring new financing regulations and the first royalty rate increase in more than 100 years, BLM says.
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“These are the most significant reforms to the federal oil and gas leasing program in decades, and they will cut wasteful speculation, increase returns for the public, and protect taxpayers from being saddled with the costs of environmental cleanups,” Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a press release. “Alongside the historic investments we are making through President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells, these reforms will help safeguard the health of our public lands and nearby communities for generations to come.”
The new rules push oil and gas development away from remote, sensitive wildlife habitat and towards areas where humans are likely to move in and develop, the BLM says.
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“Today, the Bureau of Land Manage took a significant step toward protecting our public lands, conserving our wildlife, and maintaining access to hunting. The agency’s finalized oil and gas rule steers oil and gas leasing away from important cultural and environmental areas — like big game habitat — and toward land with high potential near existing development,” Jesse Deubel, the executive director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation said in a press release.
The new rules also increase the minimum bond that oil and gas operators have to maintain in order to show they have the finances to maintain the land. The minimum lease bond went from $10,000 to $150,000 and until today hadn’t been updated since 1960.
“Thanks to woefully outdated federal rates, taxpayers in New Mexico could be on the hook to spend $1 billion cleaning up oil and gas messes that pollute our land and water. By bringing bond rates into the 21st century, the oil and gas rule will hold companies accountable and stop the orphan well crisis from continuing to jeopardize wildlife habitat,” Deubel said.
