Oil! Right here in Santa Fe County! Beneath the ground we walk on — and maybe beneath our homes ...

Hmm. Is this a bonanza, as that fine old Spanish word implies —or a maldición?

Some of our local leaders are already counting their chickens — or the revenue they expect now that energy companies are saying there are 50 million to 100 million barrels of "light-sweet" crude down there. That kind of oil takes less processing to become gasoline — and it's eminently recoverable with new techniques.

This comes as something of a shock to those who for years figured that the oil beneath the Río Grande Rift wasn't worth going after. Modern technology and today's high gas prices, however, have changed that. So, too, has the ceaseless propaganda that there's a "drastic need" for domestically produced petroleum. And until we have a Congress and a White House willing to invest heavily in alternative-energy sources, there's at least a little truth to the cant about "dependence on foreign oil."

So out southeast of Cerrillos and Madrid, a Texas outfit called Tecton is "frac'ing" — hydraulic fracturing to allow gas and oil to be pumped from the porous rock where it lies; it amounts to forcing water down holes at high pressure.

The possibility of well contamination, and the amount of water involved, has residents of the region worried. And of course, they're not crazy about oil-development equipment being dragged onto their land. But many don't own the mineral rights; Tecton and other companies do — and state law allows them reasonable access to the oil.

That's grim news for those who haven't heeded some Old West advice: don't buy land without the mineral rights. Felizmente, the state Legislature this year enacted a surface-owners' protection law, requiring the oil guys to negotiate access in good faith with landowners before barging onto their property.

And the state's Department of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources soon will be issuing new regulations Gov. Bill Richardson has demanded for shoring up environmental protection.

But our regulators had better hurry: The rules won't apply to permits already granted — and Tecton will be applying for them any time now.

Tecton, we're told by state regulators, has a good reputation for responsible drilling, and is being carefully watched at every step by the department's oil-conservation division inspectors.

Will there be enough inspectors when this project hits high gear next year? Legislative leaders had better be ready to boost the energy-department budget to cover that demand.

Company executives held a community meeting last week. Another is set for Nov. 1 at Genoveva Chávez Community Center.

At the Oct. 4 meeting, the response was predictably negative — in spite of company assurances that it'll be a responsible operation. Suspicion of Tecton, and of county and state monitoring, runs high.

However careful Tecton might be, the company is confronting a notably contrary corner of the country: Few in Santa Fe County share the enthusiasm of the downstate "oil patch" for the blessings of oil extraction.

To appease concerned citizens, the company plans to keep as low a profile as possible — and to do most of its noisemaking during daylight hours. And there's provision for access fees to property-owners, as well as a bond to cover damages to the land.

For some, Big Oil's arrival at our doorstep, however distant, will be unwelcome to say the least; others might greet it with open arms. Tecton promises to cooperate with landowners and to work closely with county and state officials to make as little mess as it can — and to make it a satisfactory process.

We're counting on those officials to hold the company to its pledge.