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Gas Facts
San Juan Basin Map
The San Juan Basin was formed over millions of years by dynamic earth processes. Many of the rocks we see today at the surface were deposited as sediments in shallow seas that were filled with ancient sea creatures. Over time, the sediments and organic material from decayed organisms were buried and the rocks deformed into a bathtub shape -- the San Juan Basin. To the north of the Basin are the San Juan Mountains, once a huge complex of volcanoes that created heat and pressures which were all part of a dynamic natural process that formed the Rocky Mountains and the San Juan Basin. The pressure and heat of burial at great depths baked the organic material in the rocks and transformed it into oil and natural gas.
In 1848, at the conclusion of the Mexican War, the treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo allocated the San Juan Basin as official United States Land. Durango became the county seat and served as a supply-distribution center for the thriving San Juan Basin. The Basin is the second largest deposit of natural gas in the United States. It contains over 15% of the nation's natural gas reserves.
In La Plata County the most important natural gas producing formations include the Fruitland, Pictured Cliffs, Mesa Verde, Dakota and Paradox formations. Early development of natural gas began here in the 1920s. Natural gas became a meaningful part of the region's economy in the 1950s. In La Plata County, coalbed methane production began in the late 1970s. Traditional natural gas reserves have been, and continue to be, developed at a steady pace.
Since the 1970s, the nation sought to alter its reliance on imported oil, encourage energy conservation and diversify the mix of domestic energy sources. The Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups have called for greater use of natural gas and other clean-burning fuels to replace coal in power plants and to help reduce pollution and greenhouse gases. National policies led to the passage of an "alternative fuels production tax credit" that spurred the development of coalbed methane. This tax credit sunsets in 2002.
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