Advanced applications of technology in unconventional gas development will shorten the time it takes to improve unconventional oil development and reduce the number of defective wells.

Canadian unconventional-gas development has not come to a halt in the face of low prices, but the market is uncertain.

Activity in the Horn River Basin is slow due to low gas prices. But a change in market economics could turn this play into a barnburner.

Together, Horn River shales and Montney tight sands hold half of Canada’s wealth of unconventional natural-gas resources.

Just as quickly as explorationists discover unconventional hydrocarbon deposits, developers figure out innovative ways to produce them cost effectively.

Optimized motors can reduce drilling time in difficult, high-temperature shale formations.

Since the beginning of 2010, acquisitions and joint ventures in selected North American shale plays have totaled more than $14 billion.

British Columbia’s Horn River basin has more potential than the Barnett shale and IP rates on par with the Haynesville, according to a Barclays Capital report.

An overview of the key companies working in remote Northeast British Columbia underscores the basin’s obstacles and potential. (From the Horn River Playbook)

British Columbia program encourages road and pipeline development that would facilitate and/or sustain new oil and gas exploration. (From the Horn River Playbook)

Operators are developing plans for new transportation systems that will move shale gas to Canadian, American, and international markets. (From the Horn River Playbook)

British Columbia’s Horn River Basin has attracted more than a dozen players. With greater potential than the prolific Barnett, the excitement is palpable, but all is not rosy. (From the Horn River Playbook)

British Columbia’s faraway Horn River Basin will one day be among the elite North American gas-producing provinces, thanks to its treasure of rich, black shales. (From the Horn River Playbook)

The Horn River basin covers 1.2 million hectares, more than 3 million acres. Most activity has been in the Horn River Basin; however, a second depositional environment exists in the Cordova Embayment to the east where operators are aggressively acquiring land.

New shale plays in Canada are taking the spotlight away from conventional gas and coalbed methane activity.