Binge watching Dallas has gotten me interested in the state of the American oil industry. I was shocked to discover that the state with the 2nd highest oil production (number 1 is Texas to no one's surprise) was New Mexico (https://www.statista.com/statistics/714376/crude-oil-production-by-us-state/).
I was equally surprised to find that NM's oil boom is quite recent, only taking off in 2017 (https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRFPNM1&f=M).
(https://i.imgur.com/QTgJHEX.png)
This really flew under the radar for me. I remember back in the early 2010s when there were articles all over about the crazy impacts the fracking boom in North Dakota was having, with rents in some towns reaching Manhattan levels and high schoolers buying brand new pickup trucks with the money earned in the oilfields but I haven't seen any such stories out of New Mexico even though they now produce quite a lot more oil than ND.
ND has more natural gas production than it has oil.
Still, NM being a major oil producer is somewhat surprising. And that OK is behind not only OK, but ND and CO as well.
OK being behind OK is quite a feat, but only expected in OK.
Behind NM, I meant NM. :spin:
People sure don't live in Hobbs for access to Carlsbad Caverns. When I used to work in New Mexico that was one of the more reliable cities I frequented to get a hotel. That area had a lot of petroleum sector people staying in the city.
One thing I've learned about the oil industry is that finding oil takes a lot of manpower but once a well has been established, it doesn't take much to keep it going. That's why US oil and gas extraction employment has fallen 40% since 2015 while production has increased by 30%
I think the reason why we haven't heard as much about NM's oil boom as ND's is the latter occurred while the rest of the country was mired in the aftermath of the great recession and served as a contrast that the news media was happy to cover.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 17, 2025, 02:19:28 PMI think the reason why we haven't heard as much about NM's oil boom as ND's is the latter occurred while the rest of the country was mired in the aftermath of the great recession and served as a contrast that the news media was happy to cover.
Or because North Dakota seemed like a completely bizarre place for an oil boom.
The oil industry also isn't new to New Mexico. The community of Hobbs has been involved with the industry since the late 1920s. Likewise nearby Texas oil towns like Midland and Odessa have been booming this past decade.
I'm not surprised to see New Mexico ranked #2 behind Texas in oil production. But then I was born in the SE part of the state. Pumpjacks and other oil field equipment have long been a common sight in that region. The Permian Basin is the main "oil patch" for both West Texas and SE NM oil business.
New Mexico's oil business has gone through boom-bust cycles numerous times in the past. I remember the region was making a lot of money in the late 1970's and then fell on hard times in the 1980's when the price of oil crashed. The cycle has gone up and down a few times since then. Of course horizonal drilling technology and fracking techniques unlocked a tremendous level of oil production.
It's pretty to easy to see all the oil well sites scattered across West Texas and SE NM in Google Earth overhead imagery.
Can't say I'm surprised California is still in the top ten for production. There are some pretty decent size oil fields near Coalinga, Bakersfield and San Maria that are still being worked. Past tense there was some significant historical production around Long Beach and even super early near Petrolia.
Quote from: Bobby5280 on February 17, 2025, 03:15:20 PMI'm not surprised to see New Mexico ranked #2 behind Texas in oil production. But then I was born in the SE part of the state. Pumpjacks and other oil field equipment have long been a common sight in that region. The Permian Basin is the main "oil patch" for both West Texas and SE NM oil business.
New Mexico's oil business has gone through boom-bust cycles numerous times in the past. I remember the region was making a lot of money in the late 1970's and then fell on hard times in the 1980's when the price of oil crashed. The cycle has gone up and down a few times since then. Of course horizonal drilling technology and fracking techniques unlocked a tremendous level of oil production.
It's pretty to easy to see all the oil well sites scattered across West Texas and SE NM in Google Earth overhead imagery.
As that EIA chart shows, the NM oil industry in the 70s hardly pales in comparison to what it is today.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 17, 2025, 03:19:55 PMCan't say I'm surprised California is still in the top ten for production. There are some pretty decent size oil fields near Coalinga, Bakersfield and San Maria that are still being worked. Past tense there was some significant historical production around Long Beach and even super early near Petrolia.
There's an oil field in the middle of Los Angeles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Oil_Field).
And don't forget Santa Barbara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill)
Quote from: kernalsAs that EIA chart shows, the NM oil industry in the 70s hardly pales in comparison to what it is today.
That chart is more of a statement on both the efficiency of horizontal drilling techniques and further improvements made to it. They're now able to pull a lot more oil out of the ground per well than in the past. The landscape in SE New Mexico has been littered with pump jacks and other oil field infrastructure long before I was born. I'm not spring chicken young anymore either.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 17, 2025, 03:40:32 PMAs that EIA chart shows, the NM oil industry in the 70s hardly pales in comparison to what it is today.
Quote from: Bobby5280 on February 17, 2025, 03:56:08 PMThat chart is more of a statement on both the efficiency of horizontal drilling techniques and further improvements made to it. They're now able to pull a lot more oil out of the ground per well than in the past. The landscape in SE New Mexico has been littered with pump jacks and other oil field infrastructure long before I was born. I'm not spring chicken young anymore either.
Technically, that agrees with what |kernals12| said.
"The NM oil industry in the 70s
hardly pales..."
The oil industry back then does not seem any less impressive..."...in comparison to what it is today."
...than it is today.
I don't know, I've always associated New Mexico with more supposed "Texas-like" attributes than I do with Texas. New Mexico has oil, ranching, desert and wilderness in droves. Sure western Texas is also like that, but the eastern part is Florida Junior.
I guess my perception is that New Mexico is closer in reality to what most people perceive Texas to be.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 17, 2025, 05:09:44 PMI don't know, I've always associated New Mexico with more supposed "Texas-like" attributes than I do with Texas. New Mexico has oil, ranching, desert and wilderness in droves. Sure western Texas is also like that, but the eastern part is Florida Junior.
I guess my perception is that New Mexico is closer in reality to what most people perceive Texas to be.
Houston's weather is not nearly as pleasant as Miami
Quote from: Rothman on February 17, 2025, 08:25:18 AMOK being behind OK is quite a feat, but only expected in OK.
Discover the excellence!
It's important to remember that there's oil just about everywhere. But almost all of it is too expensive to recover. Only in a few places do the stars align geologically to make exploitation a profitable venture.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 17, 2025, 03:40:32 PMThere's an oil field in the middle of Los Angeles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Oil_Field).
And don't forget Santa Barbara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill)
Yep, there is a whole pit right in the middle of LA! They say it's full of tar but nobody knows about it because the woke don't want it known it was full of oil.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 17, 2025, 08:27:25 PMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on February 17, 2025, 05:09:44 PMI don't know, I've always associated New Mexico with more supposed "Texas-like" attributes than I do with Texas. New Mexico has oil, ranching, desert and wilderness in droves. Sure western Texas is also like that, but the eastern part is Florida Junior.
I guess my perception is that New Mexico is closer in reality to what most people perceive Texas to be.
Houston's weather is not nearly as pleasant as Miami
Miami's weather is rancid humid and wet half the year. Even the Florida Keys (where I lived) wasn't the most pleasant place to be during summer months. This is why Snow Birds go back north during the summer months.
I'm not going to denigrate Houston's weather. It's ball soup for half the rest of the state for a good 7-8 months too.
I don't know, I'll take hot and dry versus hot and humid any day. Houston wasn't Miami or Orlando bad in the summer, it wasn't good either.
Quote from: Road Hog on February 17, 2025, 08:39:31 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 17, 2025, 03:40:32 PMThere's an oil field in the middle of Los Angeles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hills_Oil_Field).
And don't forget Santa Barbara (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969_Santa_Barbara_oil_spill)
Yep, there is a whole pit right in the middle of LA! They say it's full of tar but nobody knows about it because the woke don't want it known it was full of oil.
That's a strange conspiracy theory given LA has been littered with oil derricks over the decades. Everyone knows about it and you'd be surprised how well oil wells are disguised within city limits.
I've always wondered about this. Unlike most petroleum producing states, New Mexico is a political blue state. This might mean that policy wise, alternative energy sources would get prioritized over oil and gas. But it's also presumable that in spite of that, oil and gas still pay a lot of the state's bills. I wonder how the state balances these competing factors (or if they do).
Quote from: Ted$8roadFan on February 18, 2025, 06:04:27 AMI've always wondered about this. Unlike most petroleum producing states, New Mexico is a political blue state. This might mean that policy wise, alternative energy sources would get prioritized over oil and gas. But it's also presumable that in spite of that, oil and gas still pay a lot of the state's bills. I wonder how the state balances these competing factors (or if they do).
Politicians have very, very little control over energy production, short of outright bans.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 17, 2025, 05:09:44 PMI don't know, I've always associated New Mexico with more supposed "Texas-like" attributes than I do with Texas. New Mexico has oil, ranching, desert and wilderness in droves. Sure western Texas is also like that, but the eastern part is Florida Junior.
I guess my perception is that New Mexico is closer in reality to what most people perceive Texas to be.
From the movie
The Cowboy Way (1994):
— Where you guys from? Texas?
— Texas? Ain't no real cowboys from Texas. We're from New Mexico.
The only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:36:09 PMThe only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Albuquerque and I've gotten to spend a good amount of time in most areas of the state. It's one of my favorites.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:37:54 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:36:09 PMThe only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Albuquerque and I've gotten to spend a good amount of time in most areas of the state. It's one of my favorites.
I stayed there overnight when I was moving from Boston to Phoenix.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:39:16 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:37:54 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:36:09 PMThe only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Albuquerque and I've gotten to spend a good amount of time in most areas of the state. It's one of my favorites.
I stayed there overnight when I was moving from Boston to Phoenix.
Most of the interstate drives are pretty boring. You have to get off the beaten path a bit to find the good places.
Another thing that surprised me about New Mexico is that its name wasn't just something made up by the Americans when they couldn't think of any other name for the territory they just annexed from Mexico. The term goes back to the 16th century when the Spanish noted how the Mexica people migrated north to "Nuevo Mexico".
Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:37:54 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:36:09 PMThe only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Albuquerque and I've gotten to spend a good amount of time in most areas of the state. It's one of my favorites.
Just remember to make the left turn there.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:41:49 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:39:16 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:37:54 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:36:09 PMThe only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Albuquerque and I've gotten to spend a good amount of time in most areas of the state. It's one of my favorites.
I stayed there overnight when I was moving from Boston to Phoenix.
Most of the interstate drives are pretty boring. You have to get off the beaten path a bit to find the good places.
That's the feeling I've always gotten driving through on I-40—like it's an interesting place I've just barely scratched the surface of.
Off Interstate New Mexico is a top ten state for cool roads and scenery.
The half-day I spent in Santa Fe was rather enjoyable on foot. The state also has one of the few state-run intercity passenger rail services, and it runs more than just peak hours.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 10:21:05 AMQuote from: Ted$8roadFan on February 18, 2025, 06:04:27 AMI've always wondered about this. Unlike most petroleum producing states, New Mexico is a political blue state. This might mean that policy wise, alternative energy sources would get prioritized over oil and gas. But it's also presumable that in spite of that, oil and gas still pay a lot of the state's bills. I wonder how the state balances these competing factors (or if they do).
Politicians have very, very little control over energy production, short of outright bans.
A lot of the oil is under public lands and can't be drilled without a public lease.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 20, 2025, 08:45:18 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:41:49 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:39:16 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:37:54 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:36:09 PMThe only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Albuquerque and I've gotten to spend a good amount of time in most areas of the state. It's one of my favorites.
I stayed there overnight when I was moving from Boston to Phoenix.
Most of the interstate drives are pretty boring. You have to get off the beaten path a bit to find the good places.
That's the feeling I've always gotten driving through on I-40—like it's an interesting place I've just barely scratched the surface of.
Which is true of most any state when you just drive through on an interstate.
Quote from: RothmanThat's a strange conspiracy theory given LA has been littered with oil derricks over the decades. Everyone knows about it and you'd be surprised how well oil wells are disguised within city limits.
While many of the old oil wells are decommissioned the city still has quite a few pipes they maintain to vent off natural gas from coming up from those old wells. They make some attempts to disguise those pipes. In other cases they don't.
Quote from: kkt on February 20, 2025, 01:24:44 PMQuote from: Scott5114 on February 20, 2025, 08:45:18 AMQuote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:41:49 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:39:16 PMQuote from: JayhawkCO on February 18, 2025, 04:37:54 PMQuote from: kernals12 on February 18, 2025, 04:36:09 PMThe only thing that pops into my head when thinking of New Mexico is Breaking Bad. It's not a state one thinks about much.
My brother-in-law and his wife live in Albuquerque and I've gotten to spend a good amount of time in most areas of the state. It's one of my favorites.
I stayed there overnight when I was moving from Boston to Phoenix.
Most of the interstate drives are pretty boring. You have to get off the beaten path a bit to find the good places.
That's the feeling I've always gotten driving through on I-40—like it's an interesting place I've just barely scratched the surface of.
Which is true of most any state when you just drive through on an interstate.
The best stuff is always off of the interstate, but some states are very boring and not scenic on the interstate but very scenic off of the interstate. The main "candidates" for this are New Mexico, Wyoming, and Idaho. There are a couple of other lesser candidates too - Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota come to mind.
Quote from: Charles KuraltThe interstate highway system is a wonderful thing. It makes it possible to go from coast to coast without seeing anything or meeting anybody. If the United States interests you, stay off the interstates.
New Mexico is really something. In what other state can you find humble service stations advertised with 2 dozen billboards in each direction?
Quote from: kernals12 on February 20, 2025, 06:13:43 PMNew Mexico is really something. In what other state can you find humble service stations advertised with 2 dozen billboards in each direction?
If "The Thing" is still around you can find something similar on I-10 east of Tucson in Arizona.
Quote from: kernals12 on February 20, 2025, 06:13:43 PMNew Mexico is really something. In what other state can you find humble service stations advertised with 2 dozen billboards in each direction?
Modern stations, even!
Never would I ever . . . have thought so many people would praise New Mexico on a forum dominated by signage nit-pickers.
Quote from: kphoger on February 21, 2025, 09:05:28 AMNever would I ever . . . have thought so many people would praise New Mexico on a forum dominated by signage nit-pickers.
Roadgeekery and meth use have a high correlation.
Quote from: kphoger on February 21, 2025, 09:05:28 AMNever would I ever . . . have thought so many people would praise New Mexico on a forum dominated by signage nit-pickers.
I'm more in this hobby for interesting drives. That coupled with the fact I worked in said state for three years goes a long way to explain why it is a personal favorite.
Quote from: kphoger on February 21, 2025, 09:05:28 AMNever would I ever . . . have thought so many people would praise New Mexico on a forum dominated by signage nit-pickers.
New Mexico feels like the underdog state to me. Not going to pick on it as much as Oklahoma which feels like it's trying to punch above its weight.
Quote from: JayhawkCO on February 21, 2025, 10:16:40 AMQuote from: kphoger on February 21, 2025, 09:05:28 AMNever would I ever . . . have thought so many people would praise New Mexico on a forum dominated by signage nit-pickers.
New Mexico feels like the underdog state to me. Not going to pick on it as much as Oklahoma which feels like it's trying to punch above its weight.
The signage between Oklahoma and New Mexico tends to run on the same levels of bad. New Mexico probably gets a pass because it isn't as well charged out as New Mexico by the road fandom.
That said the state that really gets overlooked for bad signage is Hawaii. That state is all over the place and it might not be apparent how much is off if one sticks to Intestates on Oahu (like most road fans do).
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 21, 2025, 10:34:40 AMThe signage between Oklahoma and New Mexico tends to run on the same levels of bad. New Mexico probably gets a pass because it isn't as well charged out as New Mexico by the road fandom.
No, they're not the same level of bad. Oklahoma signage is cringe-worthy because of how it looks. I don't trust New Mexico signage to even be
useful.
As Scott put it:
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 09, 2021, 01:20:07 PMI mean, if there's a beautifully designed, constructed and maintained road that happens to run right between your origin and destination points, it still is completely useless if you can't find the damn thing.
ODOT signage is æsthetically garbage, violates norms of both graphic design and traffic control, and hurts your eyes to look at. But it's almost always there, and it's usually complete and mostly correct. ODOT signage sucks, but you can at least navigate with it. NMDOT sometimes can't even manage to clear that simple bar, to the point that it starts to negatively impact navigability. So there's a pretty good argument that NMDOT is worse than ODOT.
Quote from: kphoger on February 21, 2025, 10:39:43 AMQuote from: Max Rockatansky on February 21, 2025, 10:34:40 AMThe signage between Oklahoma and New Mexico tends to run on the same levels of bad. New Mexico probably gets a pass because it isn't as well charged out as New Mexico by the road fandom.
No, they're not the same level of bad. Oklahoma signage is cringe-worthy because of how it looks. I don't trust New Mexico signage to even be useful.
As Scott put it:
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 09, 2021, 01:20:07 PMI mean, if there's a beautifully designed, constructed and maintained road that happens to run right between your origin and destination points, it still is completely useless if you can't find the damn thing.
ODOT signage is æsthetically garbage, violates norms of both graphic design and traffic control, and hurts your eyes to look at. But it's almost always there, and it's usually complete and mostly correct. ODOT signage sucks, but you can at least navigate with it. NMDOT sometimes can't even manage to clear that simple bar, to the point that it starts to negatively impact navigability. So there's a pretty good argument that NMDOT is worse than ODOT.
Signage does have a nasty habit of disappearing on you in NM. One traveling somewhere rural would be well advised to really research where you are going (especially where to turn). There was a whole bunch of highways east of Alamogordo that I can think of that had signage spawn in and out existence when it was needed most.
Come to think of it no wonder I feel so at home navigating the Letter County Routes in California and stuff in Hawaii. They basically are the New Mexico signage experience replicated.
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on February 21, 2025, 10:50:49 AMSignage does have a nasty habit of disappearing on you in NM. One traveling somewhere rural would be well advised to really research where you are going (especially where to turn). There was a whole bunch of highways east of Alamogordo that I can think of that had signage spawn in and out existence when it was needed most.
My most recent time in New Mexico had me in the state for 302 miles. Entered from Texas on US-62/US-180, southwest from Carlsbad, then across on Dark Canyon Road (county highway) to NM-137, and south to Guadalupe Mountains NP. Return trip was NM-137 all the way up to US-285, over through Carlsbad, east on US-62/US-180, then north on NM-483 to Lovington, north on NM-18 for a bit, then out to Texas on US-82.
Let's see if I can remember all the issues I had in those 302 miles...
1. Road construction zone speed limit on WB US-62/US-180 between Hobbs and Carlsbad, with no road construction being done or even any equipment to be seen. But no 'end work zone' sign either, so I had no idea how far the work zone speed limit extended. Also no regular speed limit sign for miles and miles afterward. Eventually sped up, no idea if I was speeding.
2. US-62/US-180 makes a 90° turn to the south in Carlsbad, which is not signed. All you get is a [US-285 ←→] sign, and you just have to know that US-62/US-180 makes a left turn. In fact, a block before the intersection, there's what appears to be
a pair of reassurance shields (https://maps.app.goo.gl/7km16XzBMuz6vRV68), which would imply incorrectly that US-62/US-180 might continue straight.
3. Where NM-483 approaches Lovington, it makes a 90° turn at a four-way stop, but there is no signage to indicate the turn. You just have to know it turns there, I guess.
4. At the four-way stop in (3) above, the [4-WAY] plaque is missing from the NB stop sign, but whatever. Minor nitpick.
The time before that, I was in New Mexico for fewer miles. Entered from the south on I-25, west from Raton on NM-72 to Folsom, south on NM-456 and NM-325 with a stop at Capulin Volcano NM, southeast on US-64/US-87 to Clayton, then out to Oklahoma on US-56/US-64/US-412.
Let's see...
1. At the exit for NM-72 in Raton, there are no shields pointing the way from the exit ramp to NM-72. Pretty easy to figure out it's a left turn, but still.
2. The advance junction sign on NM-325 at Capulin has NM-64/US-87 instead of US-64/US-87. No big deal, I suppose.
3. In Clayton, after turning left on US-56/US-64/US-412, it would be nice if the reassurance shields would include US-64 in the stack, but I guess it's not all that necessary.