American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015 - 122

ConventionCoverage: New Mexico Oil & Gas Association
"Rail access in (northwestern New
Mexico) will provide a more efficient
and cost-effective way to bring in frac
sand, pipe or casing, and will allow you
to get your crude oil out," he observed.
"Issues in the southeast include pipelines,
water, refining capacity, and electricity
transmission."

LEFT: NMOGA President Steve Henke
(right) introduces Dan Lopez, president
of the New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology, as winner of the Jason Kellahan Award for outstanding service to the
industry by a public official. Among Lopez's
contributions Henke cited were the unbiased and factual information and analysis
the professor supplied for legislators and

overly burdensome regulations, while upholding responsible environmental protection," she stated. "Under my administration, applications for permits to drill
are processed within eight days, allowing
companies to create jobs without entangling them in bureaucracy."
The governor also emphasized the
considerable extent to which oil and gas
production not only fueled the state's
economy, but its public sector, too. She
noted that 37 percent of New Mexico's

other policymakers. RIGHT: Suzi Holland
of Chevron thanks NMOGA for recognizing
her with the Pete Porter Award for outstanding service by a NMOGA member.
The association lauded Holland's extensive
contributions on numerous issues during
her work chairing and participating on
numerous NMOGA committees and workgroups.

budget was attributable to the oil and gas
industry. "Thank you for funding our
schools and for helping New Mexicans
have a better life," she lauded. "Thank
you for investing in New Mexico while
making sure the environment remains
pristine."
Martinez also said her administration
was looking to improve the state's infrastructure. David Martin, secretary of the
New Mexico Energy, Minerals & Natural
Resources Department, expanded on that
subject in remarks regarding the state
energy policy and implementation plan
the administration had released.

Association Business
During the business meeting that concluded NMOGA's 2015 convention, the
association elected its slate of 2015-16
officers, with outgoing Chairman Leland
Gould, director of governmental affairs
at Western Refining Inc. in Albuquerque,
N.M., passing the position to incoming
Chairman D. Paul Sparks, senior vice
president, resource development and technology at Energen Resources Corp. in
Birmingham, Al.
Other 2015-16 officers are Chairmanelect Cliff Brunson of BBC International
Inc., Vice Chairman Kent Adams with
BOPCo LP, Treasurer Roger Alexander
of Cimarex Energy Co., and Secretary
L.E. "Newt" Newton with SM Energy.
Joining NMOGA's Board of Directors
for three-year terms are BOPCo LP, BP,
Cudd Energy Services, HollyFrontier
Corp., Mack Energy Corp., Mewbourne
Oil Co., and WPX Energy.
The membership also voted to approve
a handful of changes to NMOGA's constitution and bylaws, the most significant
of which, the association indicates, adjusts
its Board of Directors. Under its previous
composition, the group had 23 directors;
the new structure sets a minimum of 20
and a maximum of 30.
❒

Court's Prairie Chicken Ruling
Changes Little In Some Places

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez
(right) walks with outgoing NMOGA
Chairman Leland Gould before her remarks at NMOGA's 87th annual convention, held Oct. 4-6 in Santa Fe. Martinez
said her administration believed that oil
and gas regulation was primarily a state
function.

SANTA FE, N.M.-Industries that use
land within the lesser prairie chicken's
five-state range breathed a sigh of relief
in early September, when the U.S. District
Court for the Western District of Texas,
Midland-Odessa Division, voided the
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's classification of the lesser prairie chicken as
threatened under the Endangered Species
Act.
Even so, the day-to-day operations in
certain areas of New Mexico with LPC
habitat should not change much, suggested
a couple of presenters at the New Mexico

122 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Oil & Gas Association's 2015 annual
convention in October.
Sheila Mallory, New Mexico deputy
state director for minerals at the Bureau
of Land Management, noted that requirements predating the ESA listing remained
in effect. "Habitat management in Southeast Mexico is business as usual because
of the 2008 Pecos resource management
plan," she related. "All those conditions
of approval and project siting procedures
are still in play. The candidate conservation
agreements (CCAs) and candidate conservation agreements with assurances

American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015

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