March 15, 2019

March 15, 2019

Oil & Gas Continues to Benefit New Mexico’s Education System

Oil & Gas Continues to Benefit New Mexico’s Education System

2018 was a record-breaking year for New Mexico’s economy. Revenues from oil and gas production reached $2.2 billion, which was 26 percent higher than in 2017.  The revenues support New Mexico’s General Fund which provides substantial capital to the public safety, road infrastructure, savings, and most importantly the education system. The surplus dollars directly finance students, teachers, and investments such as technology, building improvements, and subsidized school lunches. Holistic View of Education Funding Oil and gas production revenues not only benefit primary and secondary education, but they also provide funding to higher education institutes, colleges and universities. In 2018, primary and secondary education received $822 million, while higher education were recipients of $241 million. So, how do the revenue dollars get distributed across thirty-three counties in New Mexico? There’s a formula based on a source of revenue, county population, quantities of schools, tax dollars, and other factors. Two cities in the Rio Grande corridor benefit the most- Albuquerque and Las Cruces. Oil and natural gas revenue supplied Albuquerque Public Schools with $205 million, while Las Cruces Public Schools brought in $59 million. To dissect those revenue dollars on a hypothetical scale, the city of Albuquerque sits within Bernalillo County. Bernalillo county received over $346 million in funding which could provide the county with:
  • 5,142 Teachers
  • 2,197 School Buses
  • 113,989,523 School Lunches
  • 3,452,254 Textbooks
  • 732,296 iPads
 New Mexico’s land has been given natural resources for the benefit of the community and the United States. Additional Education Funding: Chase Foundation The New Mexico education system and residents also have the benefit of receiving donations and scholarships from organizations that have roots in oil and gas. An example of this can be seen in the Chase Foundation which was established in 2006 by Mack and Marilyn Chase who have a long history in New Mexico’s oil and gas industry. The Foundation serves many facets for the New Mexico community. One of the focuses is to provide educational opportunities through a scholarship program. The mission of the scholarship program is to increase student graduation rates, provide resources, establish partnerships with local colleges and universities, and provide constant support to students. Since 2007, the Foundation has donated over 14 million dollars to graduating seniors in the New Mexico community. In 2018, the Foundation established the “Chase Foundation Scholarship Fund” for the graduating seniors of Artesia High School. The Chase Foundation sees the potential of students beginning at grade school until they walk across the graduation stage. These significant donations and resources provided by the Chase Foundation are possible due to the history and success of the oil and gas industry. 2019: A Year of Great(er) Potential Late last year, it was announced that the United States became the largest producer of crude oil in the world. New Mexico is a great contributor to the change in ranking. With continued investment, New Mexico’s oil and gas production should continue to rise which equates to more revenue dollars for public benefit. Currently, oil and gas provide over one-third of the state’s education funding, and they rely on those dollars. Also, additional private funding from oil and gas backgrounds such as the Chase Foundation support students in the community. The growing momentum of oil and gas production will continue to offer substantial investments in students, teachers, and schools for current and future generations.

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Chase Energy Services

Chase Energy Services is one of the largest privately held integrated oilfield services company in the US, providing end-to-end oilfield services through an experienced management team, innovative technologies and an unrelenting focus on safety. With more than 500 employees, the company serves customers across Southeast New Mexico and West Texas in frac and acidizing, well construction and completion, cementing solutions and well servicing. Learn.More

Chase Energy Services, Inc.11344 Lovington HWYArtesia, NM 88210(575) 748-1288

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