American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2018 - 113

Pearce, R-N.M., and the Department of
Interior under Secretary Ryan Zinke to
streamline the permitting process in the
new Carlsbad Resource Management
Plan," Waits reports.
"Permitting at Carlsbad has been a
challenge for years," he notes. "One of
my main goals as NMOGA chairman
was to help come up with solutions. We
have made progress but there is more
work to do."
Waits is president and chief executive
officer at Mewbourne Oil Co., a privately
held company headquartered in Tyler,
which has been his employer for more
than three decades. During his tenure,
Mewbourne has grown to the fifth-largest
oil producer in New Mexico, currently
producing more than 100,000 barrels of
oil equivalent a day. The regionallyfocused producer has operated in the Permian Basin for 50 years and the Anadarko
Basin for 40 years.
"We have managed to 'fly under the
radar' for many years, but now our growth
in the Delaware is drawing notice," Waits
considers.
Mewbourne, Waits points out, has made
"a major commitment to New Mexico."

In June, the company opened a new
state-of-the-art regional headquarters in
Hobbs, N.M., the largest facility the company operates, he reports.
"When we stepped back to look at
our long-term plans in New Mexico, even
though we were in the middle of the
downturn, this building just made sense,"
he says. "We plan on being active and
successful in New Mexico for another
50 years."
Moreover, Waits says, the time
seemed right for him to devote more attention to policy and regulatory matters
in the state in which Mewbourne has
invested so much. New Mexico constitutes the company's top priority, he advises, so it was "well worth my time to
get more involved."
And similar to how New Mexico's
resources fuel much of Mewbourne's
business, Waits notes, they are doing
much the same for the state. "Oil and
gas are the economic engine that drives
New Mexico," Waits says. "We are creating great jobs, growing the economy
and providing much-needed revenue for
education."
r

WOTUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FROM PAGE 31
in October 2015, but that was overturned
in January by the U.S. Supreme Court,
which held appeals courts lacked original
jurisdiction to review WOTUS challenges.
Attorneys General Appeal
At least three attorneys general hope
to get that nationwide stay reimposed.
Texas AG Ken Paxton filed a request on
Aug. 22 for an expedited ruling on their
request for a nationwide injunction on
behalf of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi
in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Texas in Galveston.
Paxton says, "The WOTUS rule infringes on the states' ability to regulate
their own natural resources, including
ponds, puddles and streams on private
property, and poses a substantial burden
to property owners whose land would be
subject to new EPA regulations. We are
asking the district court to take immediate
action to prevent enforcement of the unlawful rule."
The filing points out that the three
states initially requested an injunction
from the Southern District of Texas in
September 2015. That lawsuit was combined with others in the 6th Circuit's nationwide stay. After the U.S. Supreme
Court's ruling, the three states again
asked the Southern District of Texas for

a preliminary injunction, on Feb. 6, their
filing notes.
The court heard arguments in that
case on Feb. 22, at which time, the states'
August filing says, the court focused on
the need for an injunction in light of the
Trump EPA's Suspension Rule.
After the South Carolina District
Court's ruling, "All factors for an injunction have been met and any concerns
the court may have had regarding the
need for an injunction while the 6th
Circuit and (Suspension Rule) were in
effect are gone," the Texas, Louisiana
and Mississippi motion contends. "As
previously briefed and argued before the
court, the plaintiff states will incur immediate and irreparable harm to their
sovereign interests, effective permitting
processes, transportation project planning,
real estate investment portfolios, and the
business and agricultural interests of
their citizens.
"An injunction is warranted pending
consideration of the WOTUS rule on the
merits," the filing continues, adding, "The
WOTUS rule already has been enjoined
in 24 states. This court should enjoin the
rule nationwide to provide much needed
consistency. At a minimum, the court
should . . . enjoin the WOTUS rule within
the plaintiff states."
r

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2018

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