Moratorium on extraction in Galisteo Basin through January
7/15/2008 - 7/16/08
"Gov. Bill Richardson has extended a state moratorium on new oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin and Santa Fe County for another six months.
Richardson's order bans new hydrocarbon extraction in the basin through January. It also directs state agencies to develop baseline air and water quality data for the "fragile and ecologically sensitive" basin and write new rules specifically tailored to protecting the area.
"I am committed to protecting ground water, archeological, cultural and wildlife areas in the Galisteo Basin," Richardson said in a news release Tuesday. "I remain gravely concerned that oil and gas drilling activities could negatively affect those resources, so I have extended the temporary moratorium to allow further information gathering and protection to be put in place."
Energy Mineral and Natural Resources Department Secretary Joanna Prukop said her staff will prepare rules specific to the Galisteo Basin area, as has been done in the past for Otero Mesa.
Prukop said she feels regulations already in place for the rest of the state are "very sound for the most part," but the Galisteo Basin area is unique in the sense it is a "wildcat" area where there has been little prior oil and gas exploration.
New Mexico Oil and Gas Association president Bob Gallagher said the moratorium and additional rule-making will increase fuel costs for consumers.
Gallagher said his organization had already begun mounting a legal challenge to the governor's existing six-month moratorium, which was set to end this month, and a yearlong moratorium issued by Santa Fe County in February.
The state and county moratoriums (moratoria) were issued after Tecton Energy applied for permits to drill for oil in the Galisteo Basin last winter.
Gallagher said Tecton Energy had initially agreed to partner with NMOGA in challenging the moratoriums (moratoria), but dropped out last week. Gallagher said his organization has found a new partner, this time a mineral-rights owner, to participate in the lawsuit, which he expects will be filed in the next several weeks.
Tecton Energy president Bill Dirks declined to comment, and Gallagher would not say which mineral-rights owner will join the lawsuit. Anne Potter-Russ, whose family owns the majority of the mineral rights Tecton Energy leased in the basin, said it is not her." More>>>>
Richardson's order bans new hydrocarbon extraction in the basin through January. It also directs state agencies to develop baseline air and water quality data for the "fragile and ecologically sensitive" basin and write new rules specifically tailored to protecting the area.
"I am committed to protecting ground water, archeological, cultural and wildlife areas in the Galisteo Basin," Richardson said in a news release Tuesday. "I remain gravely concerned that oil and gas drilling activities could negatively affect those resources, so I have extended the temporary moratorium to allow further information gathering and protection to be put in place."
Energy Mineral and Natural Resources Department Secretary Joanna Prukop said her staff will prepare rules specific to the Galisteo Basin area, as has been done in the past for Otero Mesa.
Prukop said she feels regulations already in place for the rest of the state are "very sound for the most part," but the Galisteo Basin area is unique in the sense it is a "wildcat" area where there has been little prior oil and gas exploration.
New Mexico Oil and Gas Association president Bob Gallagher said the moratorium and additional rule-making will increase fuel costs for consumers.
Gallagher said his organization had already begun mounting a legal challenge to the governor's existing six-month moratorium, which was set to end this month, and a yearlong moratorium issued by Santa Fe County in February.
The state and county moratoriums (moratoria) were issued after Tecton Energy applied for permits to drill for oil in the Galisteo Basin last winter.
Gallagher said Tecton Energy had initially agreed to partner with NMOGA in challenging the moratoriums (moratoria), but dropped out last week. Gallagher said his organization has found a new partner, this time a mineral-rights owner, to participate in the lawsuit, which he expects will be filed in the next several weeks.
Tecton Energy president Bill Dirks declined to comment, and Gallagher would not say which mineral-rights owner will join the lawsuit. Anne Potter-Russ, whose family owns the majority of the mineral rights Tecton Energy leased in the basin, said it is not her." More>>>>
Please note: The Tecton applications at OCD are at depths that would suggest a natural gas play. Natural gas is not gasoline. Gasoline is a distillate of oil. Tecton received an OCD permit in October 2006 to perform remedial work on Black-Ferrill #1 and has subsequently temporarily abandoned it. See previous DSF post by clicking here.
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