CROSBY, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump’s support for shifting more power to states took a back seat Wednesday to his affinity for oil and gas production as he aimed to make it harder for states to block pipelines and other energy projects due to environmental concerns. At the urging of business groups, Trump signed two executive orders designed to …

SANTA FE — A controversial fracking ban bill hit a snag Tuesday in the New Mexico Legislature when brought before the Senate Conservation Committee, receiving little more than an introduction and no committee discussion or vote. With only half an hour left of the committee’s morning session, Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, offered a passionate plea to impose a four-year …

Oil and gas companies face a 1,400 percent increase in the penalty cap for violations of state oil conservation rules if Senate Bill 186 becomes law. Sponsored by Sen. Richard C. Martinez, D-Espanola, and Rep. Matthew McQueen, D-Santa Fe, the bill calls for increasing a maximum of $1,000 per day to a maximum of $15,000 per day for violation of …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard says she is working on a bill with state lawmakers to allow higher royalty rates for oil and natural gas production on state trust land. Garcia Richards said Tuesday that she wants New Mexico to raise its royalty cap to 25 percent on future leases to match Texas. …

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard says she is working on a bill with state lawmakers to allow higher royalty rates for oil and natural gas production on state trust land. Garcia Richards said Tuesday that she wants New Mexico to raise its royalty cap to 25 percent on future leases to match Texas. …

VIENNA (AP) — Oil prices spiked sharply higher Friday as major oil producers, including the OPEC cartel, agreed to cut global oil production by 1.2 million barrels a day to reduce oversupply. Following two days of meetings, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that includes the likes of Saudi Arabia and Iraq said they would cut 800,000 barrels per …

A rally in oil prices after a two-month slide indicates traders are betting that OPEC and its allies including Russia will agree to produce less crude. Representatives of oil-producing nations will hold a highly anticipated meeting Thursday in Vienna, with analysts predicting that they will agree on a cut of at least 1 million barrels a day in an effort …

OPEC, allies agree not to further increase oil production ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A meeting of OPEC and its allies ended without any decision to further increase oil output despite President Donald Trump’s call for lower prices. Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries met on Sunday in Algiers with non-members including Russia. The committee said in a …

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the reinstatement of public participation opportunities in oil and gas lease sales in Western states that were largely eliminated by the Trump administration to speed up sales. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush in a Friday ruling sided with environmentalists who sued in April out of concerns that upcoming sales could harm …

No oil bust in sight for booming Permian Basin At least for the foreseeable future, the series of oilfield boom/bust cycles is over, according to an industry expert speaking in Hobbs to the New Mexico Association of Counties board of directors last week. Ryan Flynn, executive director of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said oil and gas industry …