Durango, Bayfield, Ignacio: northern San Juan Basin coalbed methane in decline, a Dakota horizontal revival, and the most consequential tribal title question we deal with anywhere.
La Plata County is the northern San Juan Basin, and the first question about any interest here is not what it produces but whether it can be bought at all.
The Southern Ute Indian Reservation covers the southern portion of the county in a genuine checkerboard of tribal trust, allotted, fee, and federal minerals. Interests in restricted Indian land are not freely conveyable and require Bureau of Indian Affairs approval, and allotted interests are heavily fractionated by heirship. We make that determination free and we tell you the answer even when it means we cannot buy what you have.
The second distinctive issue is the coalbed methane ownership question, and this county is where it was settled. Amoco Production Co. v. Southern Ute Indian Tribe, decided by the United States Supreme Court in 1999, arose from these lands and held that coal reserved under the 1909 and 1910 Coal Lands Acts does not include coalbed methane. Fruitland coalbed methane therefore belongs to the oil and gas estate. Every La Plata chain should be run against that holding.
On the asset itself: Fruitland coalbed methane at Ignacio-Blanco has historically been roughly 90 percent of the county's oil and gas value and is in long, documented decline, with most wells drilled around 1990. Against that, a horizontal Dakota revival is underway, and Dakota now leads the county by well count. Red Willow Production, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe's exploration and production arm, is a major operator alongside Catamount, Simcoe, BP America, Enduring, and Logos.
Send us a legal description and we will tell you what category you are in.
The core coalbed methane producer at Ignacio-Blanco Field, spaced at 320 acres with optional infill. Most wells were drilled around 1990.
Now the county's leading formation by well count, reflecting a horizontal Dakota revival.
Additional stacked intervals, historically developed as separate wellbores on separate spacing rather than co-developed benches.
Wherever your tract sits in La Plata County, we will research it free and value it with the work shown.
We buy in every Colorado county, including ones without a page here. See the full county index or the Colorado overview.
Everything a Colorado owner needs in one place: who owns what under state law, how royalties must be paid and by when, what a buyer can and cannot deduct, the tax treatment of a sale, and the deadlines that quietly cost people their minerals. Free, and no sign-up.
Read the Colorado guideEvery oil and gas operator in Colorado, with contact information, refreshed from the state regulator. Free to search, and useful whether or not you ever sell anything.
The things owners here most often wish they had read first. All free, none of it gated.
Free, no obligation, and no pressure. We reply within one business day, usually faster.
Prefer the phone? Call or text 918-984-1645 and you will get Stephen, the owner, not a call center. If we miss you, we text back the same day.
In a hurry? Our preliminary offer puts a written number in front of you within about two business days and holds it still for 7 while you decide.