Oil and gas No. 1 emissions generator in New Mexico

Nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions in New Mexico come from oil and gas production.

However, emissions from the industry have gotten better compared to 15 years ago, despite a significant growth in oil and gas production in the state.

Ranking No. 2 in the nation for oil production, New Mexico is and has long been financially dependent on the oil and gas sector. Newly released data from the New Mexico Environment Department shows updated inventories on the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, pinning fossil fuels as the state’s top emissions producer.

“It’s still not where we want them to be, given that we want to see decreases based on our (regulation) rules,” said Michelle Miano, director of NMED’s Environmental Protection Division.

The oil and gas industry accounted for about 41% of all emissions in New Mexico in 2021, generating 34.39 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents, including both methane and carbon dioxide emissions, according to the report compiled by Energy and Environmental Economics Inc.

Carbon dioxide emissions from oil and gas are the No. 1 source of emissions in New Mexico. The emissions worsened by 28% from 2005 to 2021, jumping from 14.8 million metric tons to 18.92 million metric tons.

On the flip side, in 2005, methane emissions from the oil and gas industry were the state’s largest source of emissions. A 35% reduction since then resulted in methane emissions being the third-largest emitter in 2021.

In total, oil and gas industry emissions dropped 11% from 2005 to 2021, and statewide emissions dropped 14% from 2005 to 2021.

So while the fossil fuel industry is generating less greenhouse gas emissions, it still makes up about the same amount of the statewide emissions portfolio as it did in 2005.

However, it’s notable that oil and gas production has significantly increased in New Mexico since 2005, with about seven times more crude oil production in 2021 compared to 2005, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

So, overall, emissions from the fossil fuel industry have improved.

The updated greenhouse inventories came the same week that the outgoing Biden administration released a new national climate target, aiming for an up to 66% reduction in 2035 greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2005.

However, the Trump administration starts up next month and the president-elect has committed to cutting back on methane regulations. Miano still thinks New Mexico is in the clear with its state ozone precursor rule, which sets guidelines to reduce ozone precursor pollutants. She still expects a downward trend in emissions.

“While the federal regulatory environment remains unstable, there’s certainty in New Mexico that will continue with our state progress,” Miano said.

NMED still needs to dive into the reasoning behind its newly compiled 2021 data, Miano said, like if better technology in the oil fields contributed to the lessened emissions despite growing production.

Members of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association are “taking steps to further electrify their operations,” said NMOGA President and CEO Missi Currier. She said the state must first focus on an energy expansion to ensure an energy transition, “to allow power sources to work cohesively to achieve our climate needs.”

“The industry continues to produce at record levels while still meeting and exceeding climate goals, continuously lowering its carbon footprint, and providing affordable, reliable and sustainable energy options,” she said.

Miano noted that emissions in 2005 were worse than experts originally thought.

“These greenhouse gas inventories are always under review and always being updated to reflect the best available science, and the best available science that we now recognize … shows us that our levels (in 2005) were even worse than we thought back then,” she said. “But they’ve gotten better since then.”

Miano said it’s important to note the decrease in New Mexico emissions in the electricity sector, where emissions dropped by about 37% from 2005 to 2021.

She said it’ll be interesting to watch emissions from transportation, the second-largest emissions source in 2021, accounting for 20% of all emissions in New Mexico. The state will soon have a new clean transportation fuel standard and recently implemented new vehicle emissions rules.

“That will result in additional decreases in greenhouse gas emissions in a sector that’s really hard to get to obtain reductions in,” Miano said.

NMED plans to put together an updated inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 and maybe 2024, Miano said, though there’s not a clear timeframe of when that’ll happen. She said the state next year will also implement a new round of climate action planning to figure out what additional rules, regulations or funding the state needs to continue reducing its emissions generation.

“A policy is only as good as the funding that allows us to implement and support it in the long run, so that will be a big issue in the upcoming (legislative) session,” she said.