SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham joined Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and Japanese Ambassador Shigeo Yamada on Monday to unveil a sweeping new energy plan aimed at positioning the Rocky Mountain region — including New Mexico’s San Juan Basin — as a global supplier of certified, low-carbon natural gas.
The “Rocky Mountain Gas Roadmap & Implementation Playbook,” developed under the Western States and Tribal Nations Energy Initiative (WSTN), lays out new infrastructure pathways to transport responsibly produced gas from the Rockies to both U.S. and Asian markets.
The plan outlines two major routes — the Pacific Northwest Pathway and the Southwest Pathway — using existing pipelines and rights-ofway to expand supply across the Western U.S. and connect to Pacific export terminals. The Southwest route, which includes New Mexico’s San Juan Basin, would shorten shipping times to Asia by nearly half compared to Gulf Coast routes through the Panama Canal.
“New Mexico is ready to lead the way in unlocking the Rockies’ potential to create jobs and opportunity, strengthen international collaboration, and write the next chapter in global energy,” Governor Lujan Grisham said. “Putting the Rockies’ abundant energy to work benefits red and blue states by fueling our economies and the transition to clean energy.”
Governor Gordon called the effort “good business,” emphasizing that both states already produce UN-certified natural gas that meets international emissions standards. Japanese officials at the event expressed strong interest in investment and partnership.
A New Chapter for the San Juan Basin
The San Juan Basin — long a cornerstone of Cibola and McKinley County’s energy economy — is one of the central focus areas of the roadmap. The report identifies 277 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas reserves across the Rockies, with the San Juan ranking among the most productive and technically accessible.
The report highlights the basin’s ability to meet domestic power demand from Arizona and New Mexico’s growing urban centers, including data centers and new industrial loads, while supporting exports to Asia through Mexico’s Pacific Coast terminals such as Energía Costa Azul.
Jason Sandel, chairman of WSTN and a New Mexico energy leader, said the roadmap is “a tool to help policymakers and commercial actors seize the major opportunities that Rockies gas presents to domestic markets seeking lower-carbon gas and the Asian nations that will drive global demand in the coming decades.”
According to the governor’s office, this roadmap emphasizes that expansion projects would rely heavily on existing rights-of-way, minimizing new environmental disturbance while creating opportunities for rural job growth and tribal partnerships — including the Jicarilla Apache Nation and Southern Ute Indian Tribe, both key WSTN partners.
WSTN President Andrew Browning described the project as “a bipartisan, trans-national initiative” rooted in collaboration among states and sovereign tribal nations, designed to create rural economic development while reducing global emissions.
A Global Market with Local Roots
For New Mexico, the roadmap represents a chance to reassert its position in the national energy conversation. The state’s certified low-methane production standards and flaring limits already make its gas among the cleanest in the nation — a potential selling point in Asian markets that increasingly demand lowcarbon fuels.
As global demand for liquefied natural gas is projected to double by 2050, the roadmap argues that Rocky Mountain gas — particularly from the San Juan Basin — offers a cost-effective, lowemission, and strategically positioned solution to meet both American and international needs.
In short, the Rockies are back on the map — and for New Mexico, that map leads straight through Cibola County.