Adrian Hedden
Carlsbad Current-Argus

A Permian Basin-based pipeline company sought to up its presence in the region by buying up almost a billion dollars in midstream assets in a merger announced last week.

Enterprise Products Partners said it was acquiring Pinon Midstream in an about $950 million deal, adding natural gas gathering and processing facilities to its portfolio in the eastern side of the Delaware Basin, a sub-basin of the Permian that straddles the New Mexico-Texas border.

The deal was expected to close by the end of 2024.

Pinon’s assets included in the sale were about 50 miles of natural gas pipelines both for gathering and re-delivery, along with five gas compression stations.

The assets also have a hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide treatment capacity of 270 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d), and a planned expansion to 450 MMcf/d by the second half of 2025.

The sale also included two acid gas injection wells, and Enterprise is considering locations for a third, according to a company announcement, which will mean a total injection capacity of 750 MMcf/d.

The company estimated the area of the assets, mostly in Lea County in the Delaware Basin, had more than 7,500 remaining well locations but drilling was restricted due to a lack of gas treating capacity in the area.

Chief Executive Officer A.J. Teague said the acquisition would help Enterprise capitalize on this demand, and increase Enterprise’s presence in the booming Permian Basin.

“These assets accelerate our entry into this region by at least three or four years. These assets are highly complementary to our midstream energy system and provide us an excellent entry point into the eastern flank of the Delaware Basin for us to expand our natural gas processing footprint,” Teague said.

“Our entry will provide producers a choice for reliable and value-added processing services.”

Brazos adds pipelines on Texas side of Permian

Brazos Midstream based in Forth Worth, Texas said it completed multiple projects to build pipelines that would serve oil and gas operators throughout the Permian Basin.

The company completed a 200 MMcf/d cryogenic gas processing plant in Martin County, Texas, going into operations in October, and is finishing an about 175-mile natural gas gathering line and other associated infrastructure spanning the region.

Upon completion, Brazos will operate about 260 total miles of natural gas lines and 10 compressor stations in the Midland Basin, the eastern sub-basin of the Permian.

Brazos also planned to build another 300 MMcf/d processing facility in service by the second half of 2025, increasing the company’s capacity to 500 MMcf/d.

Brad Iles, Brazos CEO said the Permian Basin accounted for about a quarter of natural gas produced in the continental U.S., with production expected to grow in the coming years.

“These expansion projects are a testament to our continued commitment to build high-quality assets in the Permian Basin and provide the highest level of service for our producer customers,” Iles said. “Our asset base represents mission critical infrastructure that provides reliable capacity for existing Permian gas production that has been historically underserved.”

Analysts predict continued growth in Permian

U.S. oil production was forecast to grow by 13.7 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), while natural gas would grow to 114.3 billion cubic feet per day (cf/d).

The EIA said most of that growth centered in the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico and West Texas, driven by high productivity of newly drilled wells.

Newly-completed wells in the Permian were producing an average of 433,000 barrels per day in their first month, the report read, while natural gas wells averaged 780 million cf/d.

“In the Permian, increased rates of production from new completions are offsetting existing wells’ production declines and leading to higher crude oil and natural gas output,” read the report. “These productivity increases indicate significant efficiency gains and technological advancements in the drilling and completion process.

“This new well production is more than offsetting the declines in production from existing wells.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 734-972-6855, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Adrian Hedden
El Rito Media

Another $35 million in federal money was made available to New Mexico to help plug more than a thousand abandoned oil and gas wells throughout the state.

The Department of the Interior announced a total of $775 million offered to 21 states on Aug. 14, part of a $4.7 billion effort to clean up the wells, which often sit abandoned when oil and gas companies deem them nonviable financially.

Not monitored and unplugged, the wells can leak pollution into the air, water and land as they sit idle in New Mexico’s oilfields – both in the Permian Basin to the southeast and San Juan Basin in the northwest.

The money to fix the problem came via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which offered $444 million in the first phase of the formula grant process. The money announced this month, including the $35 million in eligibility for New Mexico, was the second phase of the program.

In total, New Mexico was eligible for about $72.3 million via the program for the work.

“President (Joe) Biden’s Investing in America agenda is enabling us to confront long-standing environmental injustices by making a historic investment to plug orphaned wells throughout the country,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. 

“These investments are good for our climate, for the health of our communities, and for American workers. With this third round of additional funding, states will put more people to work to clean up these toxic sites, reduce methane emissions and safeguard our environment.”

Missi Currier, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association said energy companies in New Mexico planned to work with regulators, using the increased funds to aid in remediating abandoned wells.

“Our member companies are committed to the continued remediation of abandoned wells,” Currier said.

Conservation groups urged the federal government to take more action to prevent wells from being abandoned in the first place, rather than paying for their remediation with public dollars.

The Center for Biological Diversity noted 3,300 inactive oil wells in New Mexico the group said operators should be required to clean up rather than seeing the State or federal agencies pick up the tab.

And New Mexico regulators should enforce state law to require companies address their abandoned wells, said the groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity in an Aug. 21 letter to New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division (OCD) – the state’s lead oilfield compliance arm.

OCD data showed more than 300 companies drilling for oil and gas in New Mexico have wells listed as abandoned or “orphaned” in industry terms, read the letter.

Companies are required to pay into bonding for financial assurance to the state to pay for well clean up, but the groups argued this was inadequate to fund the work.

“It’s high time that oil and gas companies in New Mexico are forced to clean up their toxic mess, rather than leaving the rest of us to deal with it,” said Gail Evans, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, based in Albuquerque. “The state must start prioritizing the health and well-being of New Mexicans and our environment by enforcing its own laws.”

At the state level in New Mexico, this would mean increasing the bonding rates required of companies who extract fossil fuels, the letter read.

In June, former-Acting OCD Director Dylan Fuge estimated the state had $107 million in bonds against up to 35,000 well statewide. That would pay for “less than half” of the cost if 1 percent of those wells should they be abandoned, Fuge said, about $200 million.

He’s now an attorney for nonprofit Earth Justice in Santa Fe and said higher bonding rates would better support state regulators, while protecting the environment.

If 5 percent of the wells in New Mexico were abandoned, Fuge estimated remediation would cost up to $500 million and more than $1 billion if 10 percent of New Mexico’s wells needed clean up.

“Industry is doing plugging continuously, hundreds a year,” Fuge said. “They plug them for a whole host of reasons. It’s not reasonable for us to assume all wells would be abandoned, but there has to be a balance.”

That’s why Fuge supported House Bill 133 during the 2024 Legislative Session, which ended in February, that would have created a “tiered” bonding rate based on the size and production of oil wells drilled in New Mexico. Smaller, low-producing wells would be grandfathered into their current bonding rates, Fuge said, if the bill had passed.

The idea was likely to be brought up again in the 60-day session starting January, he said.

“We know macroeconomic situations can change, increasing state liabilities and we need assurances to cover those liabilities,” Fuge said. “It’s like any insurance, the key is finding a path forward that reflects the right balance in terms of adequately insuring against future risks and not add undue costs.”

Currier, NMOGA president argued oil companies already pay into the state’s Conservation Tax which Currier argued should be used more via legislative action to pay for the well clean up, rather than raising bonding rates.

“Increased bonding requirements will only serve to limit opportunity for small, New Mexico-owned businesses,” Currier said. “An unnecessary increase may actually grow the number of abandoned wells as smaller companies become unable to secure a bond.”

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 734-972-6855, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

By Mike Smith
El Rito Media

Ethan Conn caught three touchdown passes and quarterback Izac Cazares led a balanced offensive attack as the Artesia Bulldogs defeated the Carlsbad Cavemen 44-7 Friday night in the 2024 high school football season opener for both squads.

For the Bulldogs (1-0) the win continues a longstanding tradition of victories as Artesia aims for its third straight 5A state title and 33rd overall.

Early in the first quarter, Carlsbad’s defense held the Bulldogs on Artesia’s first offensive drive of the game.

But the Cavemen offense could not find footing on its opening offensive drive of the game and had to punt, setting up Artesia’s first score of the game.

Cazares threw an 87-yard strike to Conn at the midpoint of the first quarter on Artesia’s second drive of the game. The Bulldogs 2-point conversion was successful as Artesia had an early 8-0 lead.

Artesia struck again late in the first quarter as running back Frankie Galindo scored on a 31-yard touchdown run. The 2-point conversion was good as the Bulldogs extended the lead 16-0.

In the second quarter, Artesia delivered a knockout punch to the Cavemen (0-1) as Diego Lopez caught a 12-yard pass from Cazares. The Bulldogs converted the extra point kick and extended the lead 23-0.

The Bulldog defense swarmed Carlsbad’s offense for most of the game. The Cavemen’s lone score came early in the fourth quarter as Ty Young scored on a 19-yard pass. The extra point kick was good, but the Bulldogs extended the winning streak over its southern rivals to three games.

At 7 p.m. Thursday in Roswell, Carlsbad seeks its first win of 2024 against the Goddard Rockets.

At 7 p.m. Friday in Hobbs, the Bulldogs play the Eagles in the first game of a two-game road trip.

Mike Smith can be reached by phone at 575-308-8734 or via email at msmith@currentargus.com and can be followed on X @MSmithartesianm.

By Mike Smith
Artesia Daily Press

A three-peat awaits the Artesia Bulldogs football team in 2024 and Friday’s season opener against the Carlsbad Cavemen is the first step back to the postseason.

Last season the Bulldogs claimed state title number 32 in a 35-21 win over the Roswell Coyotes at the Bulldog Bowl.

The win marked Artesia’s second 5A title in as many seasons for head coach Jeremy Maupin.

Last year in the Eddy County War in Carlsbad, Artesia defeated the Cavemen 55-7 in the first game in the march toward the state title.

Along with last year’s win, the Bulldogs are on a two-game winning streak against the Cavemen. In 2022, the Bulldogs won in a 30-27 thriller.

Gone for the Bulldogs is championship quarterback Nye Estrada. Iza Cazares takes his place at signal caller.

Maupin offers a scouting report on the Cavemen on B1 of today’s Artesia Daily Press sports section.

Mike Smith may be reached at 575-308-8734 or via email at msmith@currentargus.com and may be followed on the X social media platform @MSmithartesianm.

Staff reports

New Mexicans suffering property damage and other impacts of wildfires have another 60 days to apply for federal disaster relief after a request from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) announced the extension of a due date to apply for benefits to Oct. 19, read a news release.

Relief aid was offered to those in Lincoln and Otero counties impacted by the South Fork and Salt fires which burned about 20,000 acres in the Ruidoso area and led to flooding through south-central New Mexico.

To help repair damages caused by the fires and floods, residents can apply for both assistance through FEMA and small business loans via the Small Business Administration.

“We appreciate our federal partners’ work to help us support New Mexicans who were impacted,” Lujan Grisham said. “Even after the fires tore through these communities, they continue to be affected by the flooding, making it imperative that we give them more time to apply for the help they need to rebuild.”

Here’s how to apply for fire recovery aid.

Visit a relief center

Disaster Resource and Recovery Centers are open Monday thought Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Locations can be found at fema.gov/drc. There is one resource center at 237 Service Road in Ruidoso, and none in Alamogordo or Otero County.

Apply online

Those in need of disaster relief can also apply at www.disasterassistance.gov

Apply over the phone

FEMA’s application phone number is 1-800-621-3362. Calls are accepted daily from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mountain Time, and help is available in most languages.

Need debris removed?

The State of New Mexico can remove debris from private property for free. There is no deadline to apply for debris removal. Those interested can sign up for debris removal online via the New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.