Created in 1996, the Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC) has sought to bring a collaborative approach to technology development and deployment. Several factors have contributed to the surge in development of natural gas from coal in Canada since 2003, but underlying them all was the collaborative groundwork, information exchange, and research commitments fostered years earlier. Continued efficient natural gas development will depend on a future fueled by entrepreneurial initiative, but ably back-stopped by the collaborative ethos.