By Adrian Hedden, Carlsbad Current-Argus
Feb. 1, 2023
New Mexico led the U.S.’ top oil-producing states in natural gas lost on federal public land, according to recent research quantifying how much gas was lost and how money was wasted during the last oil boom in 2019.
About 62 billion cubic feet (bcf) was lost to venting, the release of gas, and flaring or the burning of excess gas by oil and gas operators in the state in 2019, more than North Dakota at about 61 bcf, according to the study released last week.
The study conducted by Taxpayers for Common Sense and the Environmental Defense Fund used gas emissions from 2019 as the most recent, reflective available data.
The industry saw a drastic reduction in production in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning those years were deemed less reflective of an active oil and gas industry, the report read.
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