New Mexico's Oil Boom

[kernals12]

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.

I was equally surprised to find that NM's oil boom is quite recent, only taking off in 2017 .



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.

[GaryV]

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.

[Rothman]

OK being behind OK is quite a feat, but only expected in OK.

[GaryV]

Behind NM, I meant NM. 

[Max Rockatansky]

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.

[kernals12]

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%

[kernals12]

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.

[SEWIGuy]

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.

Or because North Dakota seemed like a completely bizarre place for an oil boom.

[Max Rockatansky]

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.

[Bobby5280]

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.

[Max Rockatansky]

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.

[kernals12]

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.

As that EIA chart shows, the NM oil industry in the 70s hardly pales in comparison to what it is today.

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.

There's an oil field in the middle of Los Angeles.

And don't forget Santa Barbara

[Bobby5280]

As 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.

[kphoger]

As 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.

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.

[Max Rockatansky]

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. 

[kernals12]

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. 

Houston's weather is not nearly as pleasant as Miami

[Scott5114]

OK being behind OK is quite a feat, but only expected in OK.

Discover the excellence!

[kernals12]

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.

[Road Hog]

There's an oil field in the middle of Los Angeles.

And don't forget Santa Barbara

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.

[Max Rockatansky]

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. 

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.

[Road Hog]

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.

[Max Rockatansky]

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.

[Rothman]

There's an oil field in the middle of Los Angeles.

And don't forget Santa Barbara

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.

[Ted$8roadFan]

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).

[kernals12]

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).

Politicians have very, very little control over energy production, short of outright bans.