Estimate jumps for natural gas in Colorado

DENVER — Experts say western Colorado has 40 times more natural gas than previously thought.

But they say an immediate boom is unlikely because prices are too low.

The U.S. Geological Survey said Wednesday that Colorado’s Piceance Basin formation holds about 66 trillion cubic feet of gas, up from 1.6 trillion estimated in 2003.

David Ludlam of the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association says the Piceance would be second only to the Marcellus formation in the eastern United States. The Marcellus has 84 trillion cubic feet of gas.