NM Laws Designed To Limit NG Leaks And Flaring; w/o Enforcement, Nothing Is Changing
EDIT
In May 2021, New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, or EMNRD, adopted new rules that prohibit routine flaring and venting and require operators to achieve a 98 percent gas capture rate by 2026. February 28 was the deadline for operators to certify that they were on track to comply. But environmental advocates and lawyers say that in the absence of rigorous state field enforcement, oil and gas companies are continuing wasteful methane flaring and venting. Recent flyovers by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, independent monitoring by environmental advocates and NASA satellite imagery have documented significant methane releases. To date, only two companies have been fined for unauthorized flaring since the rules went into effect.
While operators still have time to achieve full compliance with the new rule, industry watchdogs warn that counting on operators to self-report flaring and venting is a failing strategy. Meanwhile, regulators say they are hamstrung by budget limitations. “What we’re seeing, unfortunately, is there’s a lot of talk about protecting clean air and the climate in New Mexico, but not much follow-through.” said Jeremy Nichols, climate and energy program director at the Santa Fe-based nonprofit WildEarth Guardians. “It’s not enough to say there are good rules on the books.”
Nichols recently toured the New Mexico Permian Basin and said he observed well sites where high winds were causing flares to burn inefficiently and others where flare stacks were “belching big, black billows of smoke.”
EDIT
In the first phase of the regulatory period, the Oil Conservation Division identified glaring problems with the self-reported data, with some operators claiming they were capturing more than 100 percent of their natural gas, which is clearly impossible. “Given the number of operators reporting greater than 100 percent gas capture, OCD has determined it was appropriate to invoke the third-party audit provisions,” the division reported in a press release last June. Of those reporting more than 100 percent gas capture, the division required 10 operators to conduct third-party audits and requested that another 74 operators correct their data. Meanwhile, state records from the Oil Conservation Division from December and January show venting and flaring increasing, not decreasing. According to the division, from November to December 2022 flaring increased 39 percent and venting increased 161 percent, or more than doubled.
EDIT
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12032023/new-mexico-methane-gas-flaring/
