A top state regulator of the petroleum industry in New Mexico who helped implement new restrictions on methane pollution and waste is leaving her post at year’s end. The governor’s office announced Thursday that Sarah Cottrell Propst is ending her five-year tenure as secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department. The state has witnessed an unprecedented expansion of local petroleum production that makes New Mexico the nation’s No. 2 oil producer. Advanced oil-drilling techniques have unlocked massive amounts of natural gas that can't always be fully gathered and transported. State oil and gas regulators recently updated regulations to limit methane venting and flaring at petroleum production sites.
