SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico’s budget heavily relies on the oil and gas industry, and the pandemic has caused production and revenue from the industry to basically collapse. So how long will it take to bounce back?
The Legislature Finance Committee held a hearing to discuss the current state of the oil and gas industry in New Mexico and the impacts that the pandemic has had on it. New Mexico is starting to see an uptick in natural gas production because of the colder weather beginning across the country. The prices for natural gas have doubled since August.
LFC says drilling in New Mexico dropped 60% when the first state closure happened. The oil industry has been about half of the normal production since the state has had 40 to 50 rigs pumping crude oil, normally they have more than 100.
Oil and gas experts do not expect to see production levels and revenue return to New Mexico until 2023 which will have a great impact on how much money we will actually have for the state budget.
New Mexico’s mining industry lost 6,400 jobs from February to May this year. That’s about a quarter of all people employed in the industry. Then, from May to September, mining lost another 1,000 jobs that have not come back.
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