In North America, the new dirty words in the oil and gas industry are "dry gas." Thanks to the booming success of gas shale plays like the Barnett, the Haynesville, and the Marcellus, natural gas prices have dropped below US $5/Mcf and show no signs of moving higher any time soon.

It is in this scenario that producers in the Horn River Basin in northeast British Columbia currently find themselves. The area is remote and far away from gas markets. But there is so much gas there – some estimates ...