IPANM Urges Administration To Pause New Rule Push

摘要

When the world changed this spring, New Mexico oil and gas companies adjusted their plans. While regulators provided some emergency accommodations, the state appears to be charging full steam ahead with regulatory initiatives that predate the oil price crash and coronavirus pandemic. Shortly after she assumed office in January 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Gr-isham issued an executive order that, among other things, directed the state's Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and the New Mexico Environment Department to develop "a statewide, enforceable regulatory framework to secure reductions in oil and gas sector methane emissions, and to prevent waste from new and existing resources, and (to) enact such rules as soon as practicable." Independent Petroleum Association of New Mexico President Kyle Armstrong credits EMNRD and NMED for tackling the assignment in a collaborative manner. "They have been willing to sit down with us and have good discussions," he affirms. "We may have points of disagreement with the administration, but IPANM has a prominent voice in discussions about methane."