New Mexico’s Permian Basin has feathered the state’s coffers and built the nation’s oil reserves, but if the Biden administration implements a ban of federal permitting, the region’s economy could take a sharp hit, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

The Biden administration in late January directed the Department of the Interior to pause for two months all new oil and natural gas permitting on federal lands and offshore waters. The order is a “targeted pause,” which basically does not impact existing operations/permits for valid leases, nor does it  restrict activity on private or state lands.

For New Mexico, it’s all in the details as about half of its Permian production is on federal land, according to the Dallas Fed, as it is known. A permanent...