Here’s How New Mexico Made the Leap Into Top 5 Oil-Rich States

Move over, Oklahoma. New Mexico has regained its position as the fifth-highest state in terms of oil production in the country.

In an annual report of the top 10 oil states put together by the financial website 24/7 Wall St., New Mexico supplanted Oklahoma with 965 million barrels of proven oil reserves.

That’s an 11.4 percent increase over the previous year’s total of 866 million barrels.

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“A new oil field and 170 extensions in 2012 also buoyed oil production,” wrote the editors at 24/7 Wall St., who based their survey on numbers compiled at the end of 2012 by the International Energy Agency.

New Mexico joins Texas, North Dakota, Alaska and California in the top 5 oil-rich states.

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In last year’s report, New Mexico slipped from No. 5 to No. 6, but the oil boom in the Permian Basin, which extends from West Texas into eastern New Mexico, put the state back into the fifth-highest spot.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said Dan Steffens, president of Energy Prospectus Group in Houston. “You’re getting production of 1,000-1,500 barrels a day in the Delaware Basin,” which is located in the western edge of the Permian Basin.

Oklahoma actually saw its oil reserves increase by 55 million barrels in 2012, but it couldn’t keep up with the increase New Mexico made.

Here’s a look at the top 10:

1. Texas
2. North Dakota
3. Alaska
4. California
5. New Mexico
6. Oklahoma
7. Wyoming
8. Colorado
9. Utah
10. Louisiana

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