ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Independent oil producers in New Mexico and West Texas are waging a David and Goliath battle to impose import quotas on oil from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

A new Panhandle Import Reduction Initiative, launched last April by prominent producers in the San Juan Basin in the Four Corners and the Permian Basin in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas, has support from about 600 local operators and related industry businesses. The independent companies involved say it’s time for the U.S. to fight back against the OPEC price war that began two years ago and which now threatens to drive many domestic companies out of business.

But they face a steep uphill battle not only to convince federal officials to enact protectionist measures in today’s globalized free-market economy, but also to unite the industry as a whole behind such action, since many trade associations and large corporate producers oppose it.

Daniel Fine, associate director of the Center for Energy Policy at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro: Initiative “a warning shot for OPEC”

Initiative leaders will hold a public rally in Carlsbad on Tuesday to drum up more public support and to put OPEC on notice that it could face restrictions on access to the U.S. if it continues to deliberately overproduce crude for an already-flooded market, said Daniel Fine, associate director of the New Mexico Center for Energy Policy at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, who is working to build the movement.