Oil and gas producers in New Mexico reported a 10 percent decrease in the number of spills that occurred in 2024 as compared to 2023, from 1498 spills to 1352 spills. The total volume of oil and drilling-related liquid reported spilled decreased five percent, from 121,029 barrels to 114,546 barrels. Meanwhile, oil production in 2024 was up 10 percent compared to 2023. 

The vast majority of reported spills—90 percent—occurred in Eddy and Lea counties, which are located in the oil-rich Permian Basin. Five companies were responsible for 40 percent of New Mexico’s liquid drilling-related spills by volume in 2024. Occidental Petroleum spilled over 500,000 gallons of liquid, the most of any operator in the state. The amount of liquid spilled by Occidental nearly tripled from 2023 to 2024.

Methane (natural gas) production in 2024 was up 13 percent compared to 2023, while the total volume of methane wasted (vented and flared) was down 43 percent. There were at least 38,933 incidents of flaring and 917 incidents of venting reported in 2024—a 22 percent and 42 percent decrease compared to 2023, respectively. 

In 2021, New Mexico passed a number of rules meant to curb drilling-related spills as well as methane waste. One of these allows regulators to fine operators for all spills. Previously operators only faced fines for failing to report a spill. The volume of liquid reported spilled in New Mexico has gone down each year since 2022, while oil production has gone up, suggesting this regulation may be working.

In 2021 and 2022, the state of New Mexico also issued new methane waste rules intended to reduce venting and flaring. The new rules require producers to report the amount of methane they produce and track what was lost. Routine flaring and venting are forbidden, and producers have to provide an explanation each time gas is burned off. Unfortunately, a lack of enforcement, coupled with trusting industry to police itself, has led to companies skirting the regulations. The numbers in this report are minimums, and the amount of methane wasted in New Mexico is likely much higher.

One of the new rules requires individual operators to capture 98 percent of the methane they produce by 2026. Altogether, operators captured 99.67 percent of the over 3.5 trillion cubic feet of methane produced in New Mexico in 2024. However, operators still wasted billions of cubic feet of methane. Nearly 11 billion cubic feet of methane was flared (burned off), while at least 595 million cubic feet of methane was vented (released directly into the air).

To be clear, the fact that over 99 percent of methane was captured overall in the state in 2024 does not mean individual producers are all in compliance. Notably, EOG Resources wasted over 1.5 billion cubic feet of methane in 2024, the most of any producer in New Mexico. Matador Production Company reported a 52 percent increase in methane waste in 2024, wasting nearly 900 million cubic feet of methane.

A few notes about the data

Since spill data is self-reported by the oil and gas companies responsible for the spills, the true number of spills, volume of spilled material, and amount of wasted methane in New Mexico could be much higher than those included in this report. The methodology used to calculate this year’s report differs from that of past years’ reports. Therefore, data from this year’s report should not be used in combination with data from prior years. Similarly, data should not be compared across states, as reporting requirements and processes differ state to state. Data for this report was pulled from New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division website on June 12, 2025.