Exhibit 99.1

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust

News Release

Compass Bank, Trustee

300 W. 7^th Street, Suite B

Fort Worth, Texas 76102

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust

Declares Monthly Cash Distribution

FORT WORTH, Texas, December 19, 2011 — Compass Bank, as Trustee of the San Juan Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE:SJT), today declared a monthly cash distribution to the holders of its units of beneficial interest of $6,945,529.90 or $0.149018 per unit, based principally upon production during the month of October 2011. The distribution is payable January 17, 2012, to unit holders of record as of December 30, 2011.

Gas production for the properties from which the royalty was carved (the “Underlying Properties”) totaled approximately 3,147,573 Mcf (3,437,452 MMBtu). Dividing revenues by production volume yielded an average gas price for October 2011 of $4.63 per Mcf ($4.24 per MMBtu) as compared to $4.84 per Mcf ($4.43 per MMBtu) for September 2011. The average gas price may vary from the posted index price for the San Juan Basin. The index price is a gross sales price, and the revenues used in the calculation of average gas prices are net of transportation, processing and gathering costs. Furthermore, the distribution to the Trust in any given month may include significant volume adjustments for sales in prior months that reflect pricing for those prior months. Capital costs for the month were $1,583,426. Lease operating expenses were $2,611,138 and taxes were $1,386,395.