I have an oil and gas drilling question for you, inspired by a letter to the Durango Herald that claimed that county tax revenue has dropped because the county is hostile to the oil and gas industry. I know that San Juan Basin coalbed methane drilling slowed down when the fracking boom hit, and natural gas prices dropped. But I don't know what natural gas price would make it profitable to do more in-fill drilling in La Plata County. (That's where county regulations might make a difference, I suspect.) How expensive would natural gas need to get in order to make it profitable to get the last dregs of the local methane out, and how does that compare with the prices that would bring back shale gas in places like Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, etc?
I have an oil and gas drilling question for you, inspired by a letter to the Durango Herald that claimed that county tax revenue has dropped because the county is hostile to the oil and gas industry. I know that San Juan Basin coalbed methane drilling slowed down when the fracking boom hit, and natural gas prices dropped. But I don't know what natural gas price would make it profitable to do more in-fill drilling in La Plata County. (That's where county regulations might make a difference, I suspect.) How expensive would natural gas need to get in order to make it profitable to get the last dregs of the local methane out, and how does that compare with the prices that would bring back shale gas in places like Oklahoma, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, etc?
I'm late catching up on my Mountain Journal posts - too much info every day!
But this appears to be the usual with this "administration"!
https://mountainjournal.org/forest-service-faces-identity-crisis-in-usda-overhaul-plan-again/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Yellowstone%20Through%20a%20Child%20s%20Eyes&utm_campaign=MoJo%20-%20July%2030%2C%202025