The San Juan Basin possesses one of the richest oil and gas reserves in the world, and that status is in no danger of going away. The nonprofit Potential Gas Committee recently released its latest assessment of the nation’s natural gas resources and came away with the highest estimate in the organization’s 44-year history. Most of the increase can be attributed to new technology and potential shale-gas development in the Rocky Mountains, Midwest and Gulf Coast.

“Abundant, recoverable natural gas resources exist within our borders, both onshore and offshore, in all types of reservoirs,” said John B. Curtis, professor at the Colorado School of Mines and director of the Potential Gas Agency.

New data revealed that there is 60 percent more potential natural gas in the Rocky Mountains than previously estimated. The richest potential reserve is in eastern Utah’s Uintah Basin.

For the San Juan Basin, which is one of the U.S.’s major sources of coalbed methane since the ’80s, the news could mean even more wells for Northwest New Mexico and Southwest Colorado, a region where more than 15,000 new wells have already been approved.

– Will Sands