American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019 - 67

ConventionCoverage: New Mexico Oil & Gas Association

New Mexico Finds Success
Through Collaboration
By Bill Campbell
SANTA FE, N.M.-Working together
to get things done for the benefit of the
state and its citizens, as well as its oil
and gas industry, was a theme trumpeted
often during the New Mexico Oil & Gas
Association's annual convention, held
Oct. 6-8.
Speaking Oct. 7 at Santa Fe's Eldorado
Hotel, NMOGA President Ryan Flynn
recalled that a year earlier he had suggested
at NMOGA's 2018 annual meeting that
New Mexico faced a choice: to embrace
the state's energy potential or move away
from it.
One path, he asserted, was to embrace
a prosperous oil and gas industry that offered an historic opportunity to invest in
New Mexico's future. The other was for
the state to turn its back on its most successful industry and to continue to fall in
a variety of national rankings.
"It is clear New Mexico has chosen
the path that embraces our industry," he
concluded this year. "That is giving the
state an opportunity to rise and to succeed
in ways we never have before."
That sentiment was echoed one day
later by New Mexico Governor Michelle
Lujan Grisham, who declared, "I could
spend well more than 30 minutes telling
you about the benefits of what is going
on in the state of New Mexico because
of what is going on in the oil and gas industry-opportunities we haven't seen,
ever. It is incredible.
"How we got there is we agreed to
collaborate," the governor continued.
She referenced the national political
discourse that encouraged partisanship
and near total allegiance to single constituencies. Lujan Grisham instead said
there could and must be a balance in preserving economic interests and fighting
for environmental protections as well as
efficient and fair regulation.
Cooperation also is a federal goal,
said one other NMOGA keynoter: U.S.
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, who
outlined the Trump administration's energy
and economic priorities.

Tangible Benefits
According to the New Mexico Tax
Research Institute, Flynn enumerated,
the oil and gas industry's benefits to New
Mexico include a record $2.2 billion in
tax revenues collected for the state general
fund in fiscal 2018, an increase of $465
million over FY 2017.
"This record breaking oil and gas production means the state has new opportunities to invest in public education,
build new roads and invest in other parts
of our economy," Flynn lauded.
He noted that oil and gas revenues
provided $1.06 billion in funding for education in FY 2018, an increase of $120
million and enough to hire 2,300 new
teachers. Thanks to oil and gas, New
Mexico has enjoyed a $1 billion budget
surplus the past two years, he said.
"In the last legislative session, we saw
the governor seek to leverage that strength
to begin to address some of our state's
most pressing issues," Flynn continued.
"The governor's budget included across
the board raises for teachers, programs
to encourage other industries, and targeted

funding for struggling schools for disadvantaged students."
And only the month before, he added,
"Governor Lujan Grisham offered one of
the boldest proposals we have seen yet
(by unveiling) the New Mexico Opportunity
Scholarship, which would make college
tuition-free for high school graduates.
"Strengthening public schools, investing
in our teachers and expanding economic
opportunities all are possible because of
this industry," Flynn determined.
One of the important ways the oil and
gas industry supports New Mexico is its
contributions to the state's permanent
funds, which at the time of NMOGA's annual meeting had assets totaling $26.2
billion, reported State Investment Officer
Steven K. Moise. The Land Grant Fund at
$18.6 billion and the Severance Tax Fund
at $5.5 billion-which are sourced from
royalties collected from minerals on public
lands and severance taxes collected on
oil, natural gas, coal and other minerals-
comprise 92% of the total, Moise said.
He said the Land Grant Fund had
grown 135% in the past decade while the

New Mexico Oil & Gas
Association Chairman
Scott Kidwell embraces
Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, following
her address to the association's 2019 annual
convention, held Oct. 68 in Santa Fe, N.M.

NOVEMBER 2019 67

American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2019

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