Oil and gas accounted for 18 percent of state’s economy in 2019

A report issued in mid-July by the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) shows that New Mexico’s oil and natural gas industry added almost $19 billion to the state’s gross domestic product in 2019, NMOGA said in a news release.

The study was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and is based on the latest government data available, the news release said. It was commissioned by API.

“Oil and natural gas are a big part of New Mexico’s economy and will continue to play a leading role in driving our state from recovery to prosperity,” said NMOGA Chairman Leland Gould. “New Mexico has enormous oil and natural gas potential, and we should continue to make this state a magnet for capital investment and job creation by prioritizing the development of these resources right here in our own backyard.”

“Our industry is crucial to growing New Mexico’s post-pandemic economy, and America’s future is stronger when we are leading the world in energy production,” API President and CEO Mike Sommers said. “America’s natural gas and oil industry has a footprint nationwide, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs from coast to coast, even in states with little to no production. This study reinforces that the pace and strength of our nation’s economic recovery will depend on policies that support, rather than hinder, American energy development.”

As economic activity, travel patterns and consumption continue to grow during the post-pandemic recovery, the U.S. Energy Information Administration expects global oil and liquid fuels consumption to surpass 2019 levels in 2022, the news release said.

According to the report, in 2019, the state oil and gas industry directly and indirectly:

• Contributed $18.8 billion to New Mexico’s gross domestic product, 17.9 percent of the state’s total.
• Supported more than 46,000 direct jobs.
• Generated an additional 1.5 jobs elsewhere in New Mexico’s economy for each direct job in the state’s oil and natural gas industry.

In 2019, the U.S. led the world in oil and natural gas production, the news release said.

At the national level in 2019, the oil and natural gas industry:

• Supported nearly $1.7 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product, accounting for 7.9 percent of the national total.
• Supported more than 2.5 million direct jobs.
• Generated an additional 3.5 jobs elsewhere in the U.S. economy for each direct job in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry.

NMOGA is a coalition of more than 1,000 oil and natural gas companies, individuals and stakeholders “dedicated to promoting the safe and environmentally responsible development of oil and natural gas resources in New Mexico,” the association said.

API represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil industry, the news release said. Its 600 members “produce, process and distribute the majority of the nation’s energy.” API was formed in 1919 as a standards-setting organization and has developed more than 700 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency and sustainability.

Visit www.nmoga.org.