The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that natural gas is poised to take centre stage in British Columbia's economy and overtake the forestry sector as the largest contributor to the province's resource revenue. The Globe's Brent Jang writes that the provincial government is counting on rising revenue from the royalties paid by producers of natural gas in northeastern B.C. to soften the blow of a stagnant forest industry. Annual government revenue from forestry has exceeded natural gas royalties in 12 of the past 13 fiscal years. Key discoveries of natural gas more than 20 years ago in northeastern B.C. and advances in fracking technology helped set the stage for the role reversal. LNG Canada, which is building an export terminal in Kitimat, is gearing up to start shipping liquefied natural gas to Asia by mid-2025. As a result, the province's producers are planning to boost their output. Natural gas, originating from geological formations such as the prolific Montney basin in northeastern B.C., will fill the Coastal GasLink pipeline and make the journey across the province to LNG Canada, which will supercool the fuel into liquid form. LNG Canada is backed by Shell PLC and TC Energy, among others.