American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2017 - 96

ConventionSection: New Mexico Oil & Gas Association

NMOGA Annual Meeting - Santa Fe, N.M.
Saturday, Sept. 30

8:30 a.m. Halliburton Golf Tournament,
Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe
6 p.m. Baker Hughes Reception, La Fonda
Hotel

Sunday, Oct. 1

8:30 a.m. Schlumberger Golf Tournament,
Las Campanas Country Club
10 a.m. Registration Desk Opens, Eldorado
Hotel
6 p.m. NMOGA Opening Night Reception,
Eldorado Hotel

Monday, Oct. 2

7:30-9 a.m. Membership Breakfast, Eldorado
Hotel
9-11:15 a.m. General Session
Year in Review, Cliff Brunson, NMOGA
Chairman
Lee Tillman, Chief Executive Officer,
Marathon Oil Corp.
Ryan Flynn, NMOGA Executive Director
Noon-1:30 p.m. Membership Luncheon,
Santa Fe Convention Center
Keynote Speaker: Mike Eruzione, Captain
of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team
2-3 p.m. Industry Forum, Eldorado Hotel
Aubrey Dunn, New Mexico State Land

two instances of increased oversight.
"From an industry perspective, it is a
matter of educating elected officials and
the public about exactly how much our
industry does for these issues," Flynn says.
He recalled his testimony at a summer
legislative hearing, where he described
oil and gas sector water consumption
and compared it with New Mexico's
other extractive industries, including copper, potash and coal, sand and gravel.
"The state included the mining sector
with oil and gas in terms of water usage.
Combined, the two sectors are at 0.107
percent of the total water consumed in
New Mexico," he says. "People always
are surprised when they hear exactly how
small those two sectors' footprints are
from a water usage standpoint. The oil
and gas industry does a huge amount of
work with respect to water conservation
and water reuse."
Even though operators use a disproportionately small volume of water, compared with other sectors such as agriculture, Flynn notes the oil and gas industry
invests a tremendous amount of capital
in recycling, reusing and conserving as
much water as possible.
96 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Commissioner; Ken McQueen, New
Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural
Resources Department; Butch Tongate,
New Mexico Environment Department;
Amy Lueders, U.S. Bureau of Land Management
3-4 p.m. Innovation Spotlight
Western Wire; General Electric
6 p.m. Reception Honoring NMOGA Board
of Directors, Palace of the Governors
Museum

Tuesday, Oct. 3

7-9 a.m. Membership Breakfast, Eldorado
Hotel
8-9 a.m. Board of Directors Meeting
9-9:30 a.m. Membership Meeting
Election of 2018 Officers and Board of
Directors
Presentation and Approval of 2018 Budget
Bylaws Review
9:30-11:30 a.m. General Session
Jack Gerard, President and CEO, American
Petroleum Institute
Miné Yücel, Senior Vice President and
Director of Research, Federal Reserve
Bank of Dallas
David Glickman, "Funny is the New Serious"

"That is a story NMOGA needs to
continue to tell," he offers. "It makes no
sense in any policy discussion to focus
solely on an industry that uses less than 1
percent of the water, and in that less than
1 percent is doing more than any other industry to conserve and reuse that water. If
you want to actually help move this issue
forward in an arid state such as New Mexico, then the state's policies need to reflect
the broader picture, which includes a lot
more than oil and gas development."
Water usage and quality are two other
issues of concern for New Mexico, he
notes, asserting the activist community
has enjoyed considerable success in convincing people that the process of hydraulic
fracturing threatens water quality, despite
a lack of evidence.
"That is a major challenge, because
once people make up their minds on an
issue, it is very difficult to reformulate
their thinking," Flynn reflects. "NMOGA
needs to keep pushing hard to educate,
and fight initiatives that are designed to
hurt the oil and gas industry. The association will continue to fight anti-industry
efforts that come through the legislature
or regulatory agencies."

New Mexico Legislature
The 2018 New Mexico Legislature
will be a 30-day session devoted to fiscal
issues and whatever Governor Martinez
includes in her call, Flynn says.
"The governor has a prerogative, depending on the outcome of the 30-day
session, to call legislators back to Santa
Fe. If the state does not have a balanced
budget, she is obligated by the state Constitution to call a special session," he describes. "The state budget must be balanced, but she is also free to call a special
session for any other items."
Waits says the governor has a firm
grasp on the importance of oil and gas
production as the state's economic engine.
"We have appreciated the opportunity
to work with her these past several years,
and look forward to working with her
for the remainder of her term," he says.
"We are excited about the upcoming governor's race in 2018. NMOGA is confident
it can work with whoever is elected to
support safe and responsible sciencebased policies that will keep the state
moving forward, fund its schools and
continue to provide great jobs for the
people of New Mexico."
Because the 2018 session will be Martinez's last as governor, Flynn says he
expects her to aggressively advocate for
the issues she supports. "I don't think
she is going to take her foot off the accelerator as she moves forward into her
last year. That is not her personality. She
is going to fight for the state until her
last day in office," he reflects.
Flynn lists economic growth and job
creation, tax and education reform as significant gubernatorial priorities, and adds
that improving oil and gas prices would
help New Mexico's fiscal balance.
"The state's gross domestic product
growth in the past year, which is driven
by the oil and gas industry, was third nationally," he points out. "The oil and gas
sector continues to provide a positive
success story for the state. If commodity
prices inch up again, that only will help
the state even more."
Annual Meeting
The opening general session of NMOGA's annual conference on Monday, Oct.
2, includes an overview of 2017 by NMOGA Chairman Brunson, an industry update
from Marathon Oil Corp. Chief Executive
Officer Lee Tillman, and a presentation
by Flynn.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2017

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