By Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican
June 25, 2019
It may be boom times for the oil and gas industry in New Mexico, but state taxpayers have lost out on more than $5 billion in federal royalty revenues over the past decade, according to a new report.
That’s because the federally imposed royalty rate of 12.5 percent the state receives on oil and gas projects is antiquated and should be raised, says the the study, released this week by the national nonprofit Taxpayers for Common Sense. The report also notes emission-control policies cause New Mexico to lose some 86.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas over those 10 years — creating both an environmental challenge and an additional loss of revenue.
“There’s nothing really good about venting and flaring methane into the atmosphere,” said Ryan Alexander, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, a government watchdog agency headquartered in Washington, D.C.
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