NEW MEXICO (KRQE) –  Oil and gas companies are looking to the government for additional breaks or a reduction in regulations. New Mexico is in better shape than others for the amount of crude oil the state is producing.

The Center for Western Priorities shared the latest statistics on oil and gas leasing, permitting, and production on U.S. public lands. Environmentalists say there are more permits on public land leases than the industry knows what to do with. The center’s policy director, Jesse Prentice-Dunn says, “Right now the oil and gas industry is sitting on more than 9,100 approved but unused drilling permits.”

Instead of permitting and public land issues the center for western priorities policy director says constraints the industry is seeing are from financing, business practices and things related to the supply chain. “These companies will argue for throwing open all of public lands to leasing and drilling,  reducing regulations and to their shareholders they say they want to look out for their profits and their stock price.”

Employees with the state’s land office explain for the Permian basin 97% of our lands are leased up right now but we don’t know how many of those permits are idle or are producing crude oil. Prentice-Dunn continues, “There are more than 26 million acres of public lands leased for oil and gas development. That’s an area larger than the state of Kentucky.”

In 2020 and 2021, the U.S. was a net petroleum exporter. “We exported more than we imported and US natural gas production hit a record high in December 2021, oil production is up 20% from a year ago and hitting peaks we haven’t seen since 2014,” said Autumn Hanna, the Taxpayers for Common Sense Vice President.

Data shows New Mexico is the nation’s third-largest oil-producing state. According to the Oil, Gas and Minerals Division in fiscal year 2021 it oversaw 6,800 oil and gas leases. “We can see that oil rigs have risen by 10 % and production is already growing and expected to break records in 2022,” says Hanna.

The New Mexico State Land Office auctions off oil and gas leases every month. In February there were 10 tracts offered and sold for about 1,594 acres in Lea and Eddy counties.

This month, 15 tracts are being auctioned. The auction started yesterday and runs through the 15th. On state lands in New Mexico the royalty rate can be up to 20%. Royalty rates are the percentage of money the state gets from the sale of crude oil. The only royalty rate higher than New Mexico is Texas.