The only exploratory well ever permitted on Federal lands in a park or monument was issued by the BLM in 1997 for Conoco to drill in the Monument. Upper Valley Field is the ninth-largest oil field in Utah, having produced over 25 million barrels of oil. The portion of the field in the Monument alone would be the 18th largest field in the state. Because of hydrodynamic conditions, oil production is from the flank of the anticline. The Upper Valley field has been produced for over 30 years with virtually no notice from the public and little noticeable impact on the environment.
Oil production is from Triassic, Permian and Mississippian formations.
Recent exploration has discovered the presence of natural gas and carbon dioxide in Cambrian-aged formations in the Monument. The Monument has large potential for oil and gas and is under-explored. Only 59 wells have been drilled in what is now the Monument, almost all of which were on the surface anticlinal crests of the geologic structures. The Kaiparowits coal field in the center of the Monument is the largest undeveloped coal deposit in the conterminous United States, with over 62 billion tons of low-sulfur, high Btu coal in place. Recoverable coal is estimated to exceed 11 billion tons.