Reuters said last week New Mexico officials are asking the Biden administration to resolve confusion in the state’s oil and gas industry on the 60-day pause for allowing state-level staff to issue approvals for new drilling on federal land. Sarah Cottrell Propst, secretary of the state’s energy, minerals and natural resources department, asked the U.S. Department of Interior to clarify how the new policy affects right-of-way permits. All leases and permits now are being reviewed and approved by agency officials in Washington, D.C. New Mexico is a combination of federal, state and private lands, and oil and gas producers frequently seek rights-of-way permits to cross multiple types of properties.
• Hart Energy reported that New Mexico’s U.S. senators, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, conferred with Gina McCarthy, White House national climate advisor, on ways the federal government can compensate oil-dependent states such as New Mexico for revenue losses during the pause on new federal oil and gas leases. A federal source told Hart Energy, “The White House understands there will be critics who say halting leases will cost states money and hurt local schools and local governments. There is interest in finding a short-term solution to make people whole during the transition.”