The Daily Times staff

FARMINGTON — A free event on Tuesday will explore ways to add lost oil and gas jobs, and stabilize the boom-and-bust nature of the industry.

Local and Texas-based industry experts will discuss an initiative to reduce American dependence on foreign oil through the implementation of quotas on foreign oil imports. The event will be held in the Merrion Rooms at the San Juan College School of Energy, 5301 College Blvd., from 11 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Limiting the amount of imported oil would increase domestic oil production and deliver more industry jobs, according to Dan Fine, associate director of the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy at New Mexico Tech and one of Gov. Susana Martinez's senior advisers on energy policy.

Fine will address the geopolitical and national security implications of the international price wars and offer ideas on how the implementation of quotas might deliver some relief for the ailing fossil fuels industry.

Local leaders Merrion Oil & Gas President T. Greg Merrion and former state legislator and Four Corners Economic Development Chief Operating Officer Tom Taylor will speak. John Yates Jr. of Artesia-based Yates Petroleum Corp.; Tom Cambridge of Amarillo, Texas-based Cambridge Production Inc.; and Judy Stark of Amarillo, Texas-based Panhandle Producers & Royalty Owners Association also will speak at the event.