Raton basin coalbed methane production picking up in Colorado

Coalbed methane production in the Raton basin of south-central Colorado and northeast New Mexico has gone over pilot testing and entered the development stage which is expected to last several years. The development work is restricted to roughly a 25 mile by 15 mile wide `fairway' centered about 20 miles west of Trinidad, Colorado. At last count, 85 wells were producing nearly 17.5 MMcfd of coalbed methane from the basin's Raton and Vermejo formation coals.