As used in the Oil and Gas Conservation Tax Act:

A. "department" means the taxation and revenue department, the secretary of taxation and revenue or any employee of the department exercising authority lawfully delegated to that employee by the secretary;

B. "production unit" means a unit of property designated by the department from which products of common ownership are severed;

C. "severance" means the taking from the soil of any product in any manner whatsoever;

D. "value" means the actual price received for products at the production unit, except as otherwise provided in the Oil and Gas Conservation Tax Act;

E. "product" or "products" means oil, natural gas or liquid hydrocarbon, individually or any combination thereof, uranium, coal, geothermal energy, carbon dioxide, helium or a non-hydrocarbon gas;

F. "operator" means any person:

(1) engaged in the severance of products from a production unit; or

(2) owning an interest in any product at the time of severance who receives a portion or all of such product for his interest;

G. "purchaser" means a person who is the first purchaser of a product after severance from a production unit, except as otherwise provided in the Oil and Gas Conservation Tax Act;

H. "person" means any individual, estate, trust, receiver, business trust, corporation, firm, copartnership, cooperative, joint venture, association or other group or combination acting as a unit, and the plural as well as the singular number;

I. "interest owner" means a person owning an entire or fractional interest of whatsoever kind or nature in the products at the time of severance from a production unit or who has a right to a monetary payment that is determined by the value of such products; and

J. "tax" means the oil and gas conservation tax.

History: 1953 Comp., § 72-20-2, enacted by Laws 1959, ch. 53, § 2; 1975, ch. 289, § 14; 1977, ch. 249, § 54; 1980, ch. 97, § 4; 1986, ch. 20, § 99; 1989, ch. 130, § 5; 2005, ch. 130, § 4.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, defined "product" in Subsection E to include helium or non-hydrocarbon gas and defines "tax" in Subsection J to mean the oil and gas conservation tax.

The 1989 amendment, effective June 16, 1989, substituted "'department'" for "'commission', 'department' or 'division'" in Subsection A.

Law reviews. — For article, " 'New Mexican Nationalism' and the Evolution of Energy Policy in New Mexico," see 17 Nat. Resources J. 283 (1977).