Oil and Gas Act
New Mexico · Oil and Gas · §§ 70-2-1 to 70-2-9 · 43 sections
Overview
The act governs the exploration for and production of oil and gas, subjecting the drilling, operation, and eventual abandonment of wells to administrative regulation and declaring waste of those resources unlawful. It establishes a permitting system — with application and annual per-well fees, permit terms that lapse if drilling does not begin, well-spacing rules, and requirements for plugging dry or abandoned holes and restoring the site — administered by a state department advised by a board drawn largely from the oil and gas industry, backed by a dedicated fund that pays for remedial plugging when an operator fails to perform. It also provides for compulsory integration of separately owned interests within a drilling unit and for unitized field operations after notice and public hearing, and addresses protection of workable coal seams, liability for damages and future remedial work, supplemental enforcement remedies, and judicial review of the agency's final decisions.
Editorial summary generated from the text of this act. It is not part of the statute — read the sections below for the operative language.
In the courts
Sections of this act have been cited in 8 court decisions.
Most-cited authority: 418 S.W.2d 123 - Anderson v. Boone County Abstract Company
Sections covered
- § 70-2-1 NMSA 1978Short title2 cites
- § 70-2-10 NMSA 1978Perjury; punishment
- § 70-2-11 NMSA 1978Power of commission and division to prevent waste and protect correlative rights
- § 70-2-12 NMSA 1978Enumeration of powers1 cite
- § 70-2-12.1 NMSA 1978Disposition of produced water; no permit required
- § 70-2-12.2 NMSA 1978Adoption of rules; appeals
- § 70-2-13 NMSA 1978Additional powers of commission or division; hearings before examiner; hearings de novo
- § 70-2-14 NMSA 1978Requirement for financial assurance
- § 70-2-15 NMSA 1978Allocation of allowable production among fields when division limits total amount of production
- § 70-2-16 NMSA 1978Allocation of allowable production in field or pool
- § 70-2-17 NMSA 1978Equitable allocation of allowable production; pooling; spacing
- § 70-2-18 NMSA 1978Spacing or proration unit with divided mineral ownership
- § 70-2-19 NMSA 1978Common purchasers; discrimination in purchasing prohibited1 cite
- § 70-2-2 NMSA 1978[Waste prohibited.]1 cite
- § 70-2-20 NMSA 1978Repealed
- § 70-2-21 NMSA 1978Purchase, sale or handling of excess oil, natural gas or products prohibited
- § 70-2-22 NMSA 1978Rules and regulations to effectuate prohibitions against purchase or handling of excess oil or natural gas; penalties
- § 70-2-23 NMSA 1978Hearings on rules, regulations and orders; notice; emergency rules
- § 70-2-24 NMSA 1978Reports of governmental departments or agencies as to market demand to be deemed prima facie correct
- § 70-2-25 NMSA 1978Rehearings; appeals
- § 70-2-26 NMSA 1978Review of oil conservation commission decision; appeals
- § 70-2-27 NMSA 1978Temporary restraining order or injuction [injunction]; grounds; hearing; bond
- § 70-2-28 NMSA 1978Actions for violations
- § 70-2-29 NMSA 1978Actions for damages; institution of actions for injunctions by private parties
- § 70-2-3 NMSA 1978Waste; definitions1 cite
- § 70-2-30 NMSA 1978[Violation of court order grounds for appointment of receiver.]
- § 70-2-31 NMSA 1978Violations of the Oil and Gas Act; penalties
- § 70-2-31.1 NMSA 1978Reporting requirement
- § 70-2-32 NMSA 1978Seizure and sale of illegal oil or gas or products; procedure
- § 70-2-33 NMSA 1978Definitions
- § 70-2-34 NMSA 1978Regulation, conservation and prevention of waste of carbon dioxide, helium and other non-hydrocarbon gases
- § 70-2-35 NMSA 1978Legal representation before the federal energy regulatory commission
- § 70-2-36 NMSA 1978Removing or altering marks of identification; penalty1 cite
- § 70-2-36.1 NMSA 1978Repealed
- § 70-2-37 NMSA 1978Oil and gas reclamation fund created; disposition of fund
- § 70-2-38 NMSA 1978Oil and gas reclamation fund administered; plugging wells on federal land; right of indemnification; annual report; contractors selling equipment for salvage
- § 70-2-39 NMSA 1978Fees; appropriation
- § 70-2-4 NMSA 1978Oil conservation commission; members; term; officers; quorum; power to administer oaths
- § 70-2-5 NMSA 1978Oil conservation division; director; state petroleum engineer
- § 70-2-6 NMSA 1978Commission's and division's powers and duties1 cite
- § 70-2-7 NMSA 1978Rules of procedure in hearings; manner of giving notice; record of rules, regulations and orders
- § 70-2-8 NMSA 1978Subpoena power; immunity of natural persons required to testify
- § 70-2-9 NMSA 1978Failure or refusal to comply with subpoena; refusal to testify; body attachment; contempt
Enacted in other states
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