Southeast New Mexico is a focal point of U.S. oil production amid climbing fuel prices nationwide, according to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

Burgum’s comments came during a Monday, May 4, visit to Carlsbad where the secretary met with oil and gas workers and staff from the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management to talk about increased strain on domestic energy production and the role of federal public land.

The interior secretary also represented the U.S.’ Energy Dominance Council, which he chairs, an initiative created by President Donald Trump via an executive order in February.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright serves as vice chair, with most of Trump’s cabinet serving as the other 18 members.

The Council is tasked with advising Trump on strategies to increase American energy production, including oil and gas drilling on federal land. Part of those efforts should target New Mexico, Burgum said, as about 70% of New Mexico’s crude oil production occurs on federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It’s mostly in Eddy and Lea counties within the Permian Basin, according to a report from the American Petroleum Institute.

That’s compared to the 27% of total U.S. crude production that is on federal land, the report read.

“I think it’s putting positive attention on New Mexican producers,” Burgum said of increased domestic production. “The specific basin that is producing the most is the Permian. A big chunk of that is coming from here in southeast New Mexico.”

The Bureau of Land Management’s Carlsbad Field Office processes more applications to permit drilling than all other bureau offices nationwide combined, Burgum said during an interview with the Carlsbad Current-Argus.

Oil and gas extraction cannot begin until permits are approved.

Burgum touted the Interior Department’s efforts to hasten the process and bring more drilling sites online.

When Trump’s administration took office in 2025, Burgum said, applications took about 500 days to approve. Today, he said, approval takes about 100 days.

The Carlsbad Field Office reduced by 90% a backlog of more than 3,000 applications left by the previous administration, Burgum said.

“When it comes to (the Bureau of Land Management), Carlsbad is the center of the universe,” he said.

The increased production cited by Burgum drew criticism recently from Democrats in Congress who said the Interior Department was putting industry needs ahead of the environment.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM, who serves as ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, chided Burgum during an April 29 hearing for alleged efforts to reduce the agency’s conservation initiatives.

Heinrich’s criticism focused on Trump’s Fiscal Year 2027 budget request, which the senator said would entail staff cuts at the National Park Service and reduce personnel to approve permitting for renewable energy projects.

“I know the American people care about all of these things, and I am confident that the disregard this administration has for our public lands and waters will not be allowed to degrade and destroy our national heritage,” Heinrich said during the hearing.

Burgum responded that the agency was tasked with a “multiple use” philosophy in managing public lands, a philosophy he said was previously ignored to the detriment of economic prosperity and national security.

“The multiple use strategy leads to affordability for Americans, and it leads to national security,” he said. “(Revenue) goes to the state, it goes to education. It’s not energy versus the environment. It’s a both scenario.”

Heinrich also criticized former U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, Trump’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management. An ardent supporter of oil and gas, Pearce represented New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District from 2003 to 2009 and from 2011 to 2019.

During Pearce’s Feb. 25 confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Heinrich said Pearce’s past support of the fossil fuel industry was troubling.

“Some of these positions that he has taken, he called for the selling off of public lands. That makes it challenging for me to view his potential tenure at the BLM as one of stewardship,” Heinrich said.

Burgum said he supports Pearce’s nomination and complained that the nominee has yet to receive a confirmation vote from the full Senate after clearing the committee.

“We’re looking forward to his confirmation,” Burgum said. “We’re 15 months in; we’re still trying to get people appointed to these positions. There’s an active effort to try to block this administration’s appointees.”

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Frank Methola, the former Loving police chief convicted last year of acting outside his jurisdiction in a 2021 arrest, was sentenced to probation.

Methola, 54, was found guilty Nov. 29, 2025, of a count each of impersonating an officer and battery – both misdemeanors – after police said he attempted to detain a Carlsbad man, Cody Hill, for allegedly speeding within Carlsbad city limits.

Prosecutors argued that Methola’s status as a commissioned officer with the Loving Police Department meant his jurisdiction ended upon leaving the village, which sits about 15 miles south of Carlsbad off U.S. Highway 285. A 12-person jury agreed and returned the guilty verdict following a four-day trial at Eddy County District Court in Carlsbad.

Methola was sentenced April 28 to one year of probation for impersonating an officer and 182 days for petty misdemeanor battery. District Judge David Finger ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning Methola will serve a total of one year of probation.

He filed a notice of appeal May 4 in New Mexico Supreme Court but had yet to file a docketing statement outlining reasons the guilty verdict should be overturned.

Outside jurisdiction

Although he drove a designated Loving police car and was dressed in his full officer uniform, Methola did not possess a commission card from the Eddy County Sheriff’s Office, prosecutors argued, allowing him to make traffic stops and arrests outside of Loving but within Eddy County.

That meant Methola acted outside of his jurisdiction when he detained Hill, prosecutors asserted, using a Taser and handcuffing him after Methola alleged Hill resisted.

Hill was never arrested or issued a citation.

On June 2, 2023, Methola filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing his pursuit of Hill began in Loving and continued as the alleged speeder ignored orders to pull over and drove into Carlsbad.

The motion also argued that state law allowed officers to make arrests outside of their jurisdiction when in “fresh pursuit” of a defendant fleeing that jurisdiction.

Eddy County and the village of Loving had a “joint police services agreement” in effect at the time of the incident, read the motion to dismiss, meaning Loving police officers were allowed to make arrests in other Eddy County jurisdictions.

The agreement stated the village of Loving will “provide police services to the extent available or on an as needed basis.” It also listed fire and emergency medical services being provided to residents of Eddy County by the village as needed and determined by the Eddy County Commission.

Fifth Judicial District Attorney Diana Luce argued at trial that the memorandum did not give officers the authority to pursue suspects alone and make arrests across jurisdictional boundaries.

She said Methola’s actions could cast doubt on the arrest, potentially impacting the ability to secure a conviction.

“I know it seems like a technicality, but the problem is that if a stop is bad, any such case would be dismissed,” she said following the verdict.

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.

Jeannie Nichols said she is “ready to fight” against impacts she said local communities face amid growing oil and gas production in Eddy County.

Nichols, 48, is a lifelong resident of Happy Valley, a rural community of about 600 people that borders Carlsbad City limits and the closest residential area to 10 oil wells recently drilled by Midland-based Permian Resources.

The county’s current ordinance – written in 1975 and unamended since – prohibits oil and gas facilities, such as drilling rigs, pipelines or tank batteries from being constructed within 300 feet of homes or other occupied buildings without consent of the owner of the adjacent property or structure.

During the Tuesday, May 5, Eddy County Commission meeting Nichols asked the county to enlarge the buffer zone to half a mile. Her proposal was included in the meeting’s published agenda as a “discussion” item, meaning no action was taken.

No one from the audience other than Nichols spoke for or against her proposal.

She said the closest oil well being drilled is slightly more than 400 feet from her house, and that she’s experienced abrasive noise, increased traffic and a lack of privacy as the drilling sites are operated all day and night.

“Until recently it was a quiet, peaceful neighborhood, and now we live in a literal war zone,” Nichols told commissioners. “The oilfield has infiltrated and surrounded us without so much as a courtesy phone call or letter or public meeting as to the intentions of our community.”

Carlsbad grants approval

The wells are being drilled within city limits, but most of Happy Valley is outside the city in Eddy County.

The Carlsbad City Council voted in June to approve permits for each of the wells and an associated tank battery as part of Permian Resources’ 17-well campaign the company calls its Water Buffalo Project.

The Water Buffalo wells are in an area near the intersection of West Texas Street and New Mexico State Road 524, targeting oil deposits in the Wolf Camp and Bone Spring formations about 8,000 feet beneath and within the broader Permian Basin.

The wells are in an area of the city known as its Wellhead Protection Zone, meaning oil and gas wells require the city’s permission and review due to possible impacts to the Sheep’s Draw wellfield in southwestern Carlsbad where the city draws most of its groundwater.

Permian Resources Regulatory Manager Stephanie Rabadue denied that the project would impact groundwater supplies. She also explained that pipelines associated with the project would be encased in steel and concrete, preventing any contaminants from leaking into groundwater.

“We are certainly compliant with local and state regulations,” said Permian Resources spokesperson Lindsey White.

All told, the company estimated the project would mark an $85 million capital investment in the community along with “tens of millions” in oil and gas royalties paid to the city and local mineral rights owners.

But it faced opposition during the June 17, 2025, City Council meeting when the plans were approved – a meeting Nichols also attended to speak against the proposal.

At the recent County Commission meeting, Nichols voiced similar misgivings as to the impact on safety of the local community, along with air pollution and noise concerns Nichols said Happy Valley would face when the wells were built and operated.

Community ‘blind-sided’

Nichols said she supported the oil and gas industry, and the economic benefits it brought to Eddy County. But Nichols was concerned, she said, as oil and gas developments continued to encroach on residential communities.

“My community has been blindsided with the latest invasion and for the safety of our families, and the decency and compassion for our quality of life, I am asking you, the county commissioners, to take action,” Nichols said. “I’m not trying to shut down the oilfield, and I’m not asking you to shut it down, either.”

County Attorney Cas Tabor pointed to the city of Carlsbad’s ordinance that places similar restrictions on facilities within 500 feet of homes.

County Manager Mike Gallagher, who served as Lea County manager until January 2025, said that county, which neighbors Carlsbad to the east, has no ordinance and relies on state regulations to ensure safety of communities alongside drilling operations.

There is no state law regarding oil facilities’ distance from homes.

District 4 Commissioner Bo Bowen said commissioners should gather more information on the Happy Valley situation and the county’s oil and gas regulations before considering any amendment.

“I think we need to look at this and come up with something that is better than what is in place,” he said. “We can come up with something that helps the residents but also keeps the industry that keeps Eddy County and the state moving still wanting to participate.”

Managing Editor Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, or @AdrianHedden on the social media platform X.