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Oil and gas companies in Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming reported an increase in drilling-related spills in 2021 compared to 2020, according to a new report from the Center for Western Priorities. Notably, New Mexico recorded a record number of spills in 2021.
In 2021, oil prices rebounded from a pandemic-induced slump in 2020, when the price per barrel briefly dropped below zero. The rebound in oil prices is likely behind increased production of oil in New Mexico, while Wyoming and Colorado both produced less oil in 2021 compared to 2020.
While federal oil and gas regulations related to spill and leak reporting remained unchanged in 2021, New Mexico began requiring operators to report all incidents of flaring and venting of gas totaling over 50,000 cubic feet in a 24-hour period. The new rule, which went into effect at the end of May 2021, is part of a larger effort in the state to reduce overall methane emissions. Previously, the state only required operators to report incidents of venting—in which methane is released straight into the atmosphere rather than burned. This new reporting revealed 12,005 incidents of flaring and 1,211 incidents of venting in 2021, resulting in over 5 billion cubic feet of flared methane and 281 million cubic feet of vented methane—which is equivalent to the emissions produced by over 100,000 cars driven for a year.
“As oil companies once again push for more access to public land for drilling, it’s clear the industry still has a way to go to clean up its act,” said Kate Groetzinger, report author and communications associate at the Center for Western Priorities. “Oil and gas spills routinely impact water wells and communities in the West, while methane gas continues to spew into the atmosphere at a high rate. Residents and regulators should not simply accept this as the cost of doing business.”
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There’s really a paradigm shift that’s starting among scientists about this idea of neutrality and remaining unbiased... I really think that this shift is just an acknowledgment of the inherent humanity of scientists and the fact that we have feelings—and unalienable rights to express those feelings.”
