Tecton president disputes oil official

The Santa Fe New Mexican :

Tecton Energy president Bill Dirks said Wednesday that despite what New Mexico Oil and Gas Association president Bob Gallagher told The New Mexican earlier this week, his company never agreed to partner with the association on a lawsuit challenging state and county moratoriums on oil and gas drilling in the Galisteo Basin.

"We have always stated that we intended to explore our options," Dirks said in a statement Wednesday. "We have spent countless hours consulting with state and county officials, individuals in the Santa Fe area, industry groups including NMOGA, and attorneys in an honest attempt to determine how best to proceed. Tecton ultimately determined that the best course of action does not involve litigation at this time."

Asked about his statement that Tecton had originally agreed to participate in a legal challenge but later backed out, Gallagher said he may have used the wrong wording. "Proper wording should have been: We had worked with them for several months and had assumed that they would be part of it. But we respect (an) individual company's rights to make decisions that are right for that company."