August 24, 2018 • Regional News
This week in New Mexico 8/24
New Mexico State Government Is Awash in Money From Oil Boom
The Associated Press
New Mexico's state government income is surging amid an oil boom that may give legislators an extra $1.2 billion to work with as they craft the next annual budget.
Economists from three state agencies and the Legislature on Wednesday predicted that tax revenue and other government income will surpass spending obligations by "an astonishing $1.2 billion" during the fiscal year that begins in July 2019.
General fund revenues for the fiscal year that ended in July increased by nearly 15 percent over the previous year — a growth rate the state has not seen in more than a decade.
The forecast warned that the new money stems largely from a volatile oil industry, and that income from taxes and royalties could quickly erode with a crash in energy prices
New Mexico GOP governor hopeful: Toll roads for oil traffic
The Associated Press
New Mexico Republican gubernatorial hopeful Steve Pearce is calling for a system of toll roads in southeastern New Mexico to serve booming oilfield and other commercial traffic around one of the most-productive oil and gas areas in the world.
Speaking to a group of business leaders in Carlsbad, New Mexico, last week, Pearce, of Hobbs, unveiled a plan he said would be financed by private companies and without taxpayer dollars, the Hobbs News-Sun reports . Its aim would help traffic coming from the Delaware Basin, an oval-shaped shale rock formation that protrudes from southwest Texas northward into New Mexico’s Eddy and Lea counties.
Modern drilling technologies have turned that zone into one of the most-productive oil and gas regions on the planet.
But traffic from heavy oil trucks has damaged New Mexico roads and created dangerous conditions on highways as police contend with an increasing number of automobile fatalities in the area.
“We have all heard the tragic stories of accidents on our highways in southeastern New Mexico,” Pearce said. “The roads are overcrowded and stressed beyond capacity, creating an unsafe situation for our New Mexico families and workers.”
New Mexico, unlike nearby Texas and Colorado, has no toll roads.
Pearce said, if elected, he will work immediately after the November general election to secure commitments from companies to completely finance and build the new toll roads in Lea and Eddy counties.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1211434/new-mexico-gop-governor-hopeful-toll-roads-for-oil-traffic.html
The Next Big Bet in Fracking: Water
The Wall Street Journal
Some investors see fortunes to be made in the U.S.’s hottest oil field—by speculating in water, not crude.
Fledgling companies, many backed by private equity, are rushing to help shale drillers deal with one of their trickiest problems: what to do with the vast volumes of wastewater that are a byproduct of fracking wells.
When producers blast a mix of water, sand and chemicals to release oil and gas from rock formations miles underground, they not only unlock oil and gas, but also massive quantities of briny water long buried beneath the surface. Drillers in the Permian Basin in New Mexico and Texas currently generate more than 1,000 Olympic-size swimming pools full of this murky, salty water every day. Handling it amounts to up to 25% of a well’s lease operating expense, according to analysts.
Investors have expressed interest in this corner of the U.S. shale industry as oil production in the Permian soars to record levels. Analysts said the region could produce more than five million barrels of oil a day by 2023, more than the current daily production of Iran.
Sensing a chance for a big return, private-equity firms have invested more than $500 million into wastewater-disposal companies such as Solaris Water Midstream, WaterBridge Resources LLC, and Oilfield Water Logistics. There are roughly a dozen of these water-focused companies that analysts said could each be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-next-big-bet-in-fracking-water-1534930200
NM trade expert to talk about impact of Trump policies
The Albuquerque Journal
International trade has never been more important to New Mexico and nobody knows this better than Jerry Pacheco, president of the Border Industrial Association.
“This is an exciting place,” said Pacheco sitting in a conference room in his office building surrounded by four industrial parks near the bustling Santa Teresa border crossing.
Pacheco has played a key role in expanding cross-border trade in New Mexico for more than 25 years. He’ll share his insights in a talk Friday at the UNM Continuing Education Auditorium. His talk, “New Mexico’s Booming Trade with Mexico- A view from the Border,”is part of the Albuquerque International Association’s lecture series.
Pacheco, a native New Mexican, started working on border affairs after graduating from UNM. He was a “kid out of college” when he joined Gov. Bruce King’s international team in 1991 and started as a “gofer.”
The experience gave Pacheco a front row seat in cross border negotiations at a time when New Mexico was pushing to open a new port of entry. He was an early believer in Santa Teresa.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1211538/nm-trade-expert-to-talk-about-impact-of-trump-policies.html
New Mexico gets $3.7M to tighten election cybersecurity
The Associated Press
New Mexico is receiving $3.7 million from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to tighten cybersecurity, safeguard voter registration rolls and otherwise improve voting systems.
The commission on Tuesday released a report showing how states plan to spend $380 million allocated by Congress to strengthen voting systems amid threats from Russian and others.
New Mexico is among five states that did not provide the federal government with a detailed narrative for its grant spending.
U.S. Election Assistance Commission says New Mexico plans to devote more than $2 million to tighten cybersecurity, $500,000 to voter registration efforts and $750,000 to shoring up voting equipment.
The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office could not be reached immediately for comment. The federal government expects New Mexico to spend $185,000 of its own funds.
http://www.therepublic.com/2018/08/21/nm-election-security-state-grants-new-mexico/
Our view: Polls, politics and the race to succeed Susana
The New Mexican
Traditionally, Labor Day is the beginning of the general election political season.
With 24-7 Twitter, rapid-fire response emails, special interest money for TV ads and blockbuster polls, even the dog days of summer are soaked in politics as well as sun.
Take the latest news of August, with former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson deciding to enter the race for U.S. Senate as a Libertarian. He takes on U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, a Democratic incumbent, and the GOP nominee, businessman Mick Rich.
While Johnson is a decided underdog, his universal name recognition and penchant for shooting from the hip — thus, making headlines — mean a more interesting race for Senate than had been predicted. We hope, too, that the race becomes substantive, with vigorous debate about issues that matter to New Mexicans. Issues, not trivialities, please.
For all the hoopla about Johnson’s entrance into the Senate race, however, the top contest in New Mexico is the race for governor, with two members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation vying to succeed GOP Gov. Susana Martinez, who isn’t eligible for a third term because of limits.
U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, and U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, a Republican, are enmeshed in what appears to be a closer-than-expected race. A new poll of 500 registered voters has Lujan Grisham at 42 percent to 40 percent. It was conducted by the respected Emerson College of Boston, using landlines and online tools.
State GOP officials are crowing that the race is statistically tied; we would point out that the poll does have a margin of error rate of 4.6 percent. That could put Lujan Grisham almost 7 percent ahead or a few points behind, depending on which way the margin of error swings.
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