Amoco geologist Ed Warner, thinking outside the box about gas accumulations in coal mines, studied hundreds of oil and gas wells in numerous basins across the United States and found that many of the mud logs recorded large amounts of gas were being expelled. After researching the subject, Ed went to Amoco management with the idea of drilling for gas from coalbeds. His presentation included an outline of potential plays in the San Juan, Piceance, Powder River, Raton and Black Warrior basins. Ed’s curiosity and research convinced Amoco to drill for gas in the Fruitland coalbeds of the San Juan Basin. The drilling was successful and Amoco developed a major coalbed methane gas field there. Thus, coalbed methane gas became an economic resource. After leaving Amoco, Ed founded Expedition Oil Company and went on to have an outstanding career as an independent exploration geologist.