A recent decision by MGM Energy to stop exploring for natural gas in the Mackenzie Delta is already taking its toll on some businesses in the Northwest Territories that relied on the company's work.

Calgary-based MGM announced May 6 that it has halted drilling in the area, as there is too much uncertainty right now about whether the Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline will actually be built.

MGM originally had an agreement with Chevron and BP to drill three wells each winter until spring 2010. Now, the drilling of those last three wells has been put on hold for at least one year while key decisions are made on whether the pipeline will proceed.

MGM had been the last company still exploring for natural gas in the Mackenzie Delta. The work was worth tens of millions of dollars to area businesses like Rob Adams's trucking company in Inuvik, N.W.T.

Adams told CBC News his company, which has seven trucks and 11 employees, had helped remove contaminated mud from MGM's drill sites. Now, he said, there isn't much work anymore.

"Right now, I'm trying to find work in the south to keep going here. I mean, we've got some work in Vancouver and Edmonton but not a lot," Adams said.

"We do definitely base ourselves around MGM drilling up north."

A decision on whether MGM will resume drilling wells in the Delta will depend in part on an environmental and socio-economic review of the Mackenzie pipeline proposal. The Joint Review Panel, a seven-member group of citizens and experts set up by the federal government and regional agencies to examine the project, is supposed to be released in December.

Adams urged the panel to release its report and recommendations sooner than that, saying a lot of people have invested a lot of money in preparing for pipeline work.

After the panel releases its report, Imperial Oil, the main proponent in the Mackenzie pipeline project, will also have to decide whether construction of the $16.2-billion project is still feasible.

Officials with the Aboriginal Pipeline Group (APG), which is a partner with Imperial and other companies in the project, say they cannot blame MGM for pulling back on drilling for now.

APG spokesman Bob Reid said while he is not happy with the latest move, there are other companies showing exploration potential.

"There are other companies up there — [such as] the Mackenzie Explorer group — who do have reserves that were discovered some years ago and would be potential shippers and would allow APG to earn an increased ownership in the pipeline," Reid said.

"But certainly, MGM are the only ones who have been active in the last couple of years."

MGM found gas near Ellice Island this winter, but it has had a run of dry wells recently.