Thanks to its vast natural resources, the Southern Ute Tribe of Colorado is estimated to be worth about $4 billion.
The reservation sits atop one of the world’s richest deposits of methane gas. That means the tribe controls about 1 percent of the nation’s natural gas supply.
It wasn't always that way. Leases negotiated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs only brought the tribe a small amount of revenues.
But once the tribe started buying back drilling rights and created its own energy company, the situation turned around. Red Willow is now the 13th largest privately held energy producer in the U.S.
Wall Street has taken notice. Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings have issued the tribe triple-A ratings.
Get the Story:Indian Tribe Becomes Force in West’s Energy Boom (The New York Times 7/24)
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