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, July 20, 2012 — 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 $2,430,865.90 or $0.052155 per unit, based principally upon production during the month of May 2012. The distribution is payable August 14, 2012, to unit holders of record as of July 31, 2012.

Gas production for the properties from which the royalty was carved (the “Underlying Properties”) totaled approximately 2,754,882 Mcf (3,013,813 MMBtu). Dividing revenues by production volume yielded an average gas price for May 2012 of $2.46 per Mcf ($2.25 per MMBtu) as compared to $2.90 per Mcf ($2.65 per MMBtu) for April 2012. 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 $1,000,931. Lease operating expenses were $2,144,578 and taxes were $707,658.