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natural gas
Table of Contents
natural gas

 * Introduction
   
 * History of use
    * Discovery and early application
   
    * Improvements in gas pipelines
   
    * Natural gas as a premium fuel

 * Composition and properties of natural gas
    * Hydrocarbon content
   
    * Nonhydrocarbon content
   
    * Thermal and physical properties

 * Processing and transport of natural gas
    * Measurement systems
   
    * Field processing
      * Dehydration
      * Recovery of hydrocarbon liquids
      * Sweetening
   
    * Transport
   
    * Applications

 * Origin of natural gas
    * Organic formation process
      * The biological stage
      * The thermal stage
   
    * Inorganic formation
   
    * The geologic environment
   
    * Conventional gas reservoirs
   
    * Unconventional gas reservoirs
      * Tight gas
      * Shale gas
      * Coal-bed methane
      * Geopressured fluids and methane hydrates

 * World distribution of natural gas
    * Status of world gas reserves
   
    * Location of major gas fields
      * Russia
      * Europe
      * North America
      * North Africa
      * Middle East
      * Asia

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NATURAL GAS

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Alternate titles: methane gas, natural methane gas
By A.L. Waddams | See All • Edit History

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Table of Contents
natural gas production platform
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Related Topics: shale gas liquefied natural gas wet gas dry gas sour gas
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natural gas, also called methane gas or natural methane gas, colourless highly
flammable gaseous hydrocarbon consisting primarily of methane and ethane. It is
a type of petroleum that commonly occurs in association with crude oil. A fossil
fuel, natural gas is used for electricity generation, heating, and cooking and
as a fuel for certain vehicles. It is important as a chemical feedstock in the
manufacture of plastics and is necessary for a wide array of other chemical
products, including fertilizers and dyes.

Natural gas is often found dissolved in oil at the high pressures existing in a
reservoir, and it can be present as a gas cap above the oil. In many instances
it is the pressure of natural gas exerted upon the subterranean oil reservoir
that provides the drive to force oil up to the surface. Such natural gas is
known as associated gas; it is often considered to be the gaseous phase of the
crude oil and usually contains some light liquids such as propane and butane.
For this reason, associated gas is sometimes called “wet gas.” There are also
reservoirs that contain gas and no oil. This gas is termed nonassociated gas.
Nonassociated gas, coming from reservoirs that are not connected with any known
source of liquid petroleum, is “dry gas.”

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HISTORY OF USE




DISCOVERY AND EARLY APPLICATION

The first discoveries of natural gas seeps were made in Iran between 6000 and
2000 bce. Many early writers described the natural petroleum seeps in the Middle
East, especially in the Baku region of what is now Azerbaijan. The gas seeps,
probably first ignited by lightning, provided the fuel for the “eternal fires”
of the fire-worshipping religion of the ancient Persians.



The use of natural gas was mentioned in China about 900 bce. It was in China in
211 bce that the first known well was drilled for natural gas, to reported
depths of 150 metres (500 feet). The Chinese drilled their wells with bamboo
poles and primitive percussion bits for the express purpose of searching for gas
in limestones dating to the Late Triassic Epoch (about 237 million to 201.3
million years ago) in an anticline (an arch of stratified rock) west of modern
Chongqing. The gas was burned to dry the rock salt found interbedded in the
limestone. Eventually wells were drilled to depths approaching 1,000 metres
(3,300 feet), and more than 1,100 wells had been drilled into the anticline by
1900.

Natural gas was unknown in Europe until its discovery in England in 1659, and
even then it did not come into wide use. Instead, gas obtained from carbonized
coal (known as town gas) became the primary fuel for illuminating streets and
houses throughout much of Europe from 1790 on.

In North America the first commercial application of a petroleum product was the
utilization of natural gas from a shallow well in Fredonia, New York, in 1821.
The gas was distributed through a small-bore lead pipe to consumers for lighting
and cooking.




IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS PIPELINES

Throughout the 19th century the use of natural gas remained localized because
there was no way to transport large quantities of gas over long distances.
Natural gas remained on the sidelines of industrial development, which was based
primarily on coal and oil. An important breakthrough in gas-transportation
technology occurred in 1890 with the invention of leakproof pipeline coupling.
Nonetheless, materials and construction techniques remained so cumbersome that
gas could not be used more than 160 km (100 miles) from a source of supply.
Thus, associated gas was mostly flared (i.e., burned at the wellhead), and
nonassociated gas was left in the ground, while town gas was manufactured for
use in the cities.

Long-distance gas transmission became practical during the late 1920s because of
further advances in pipeline technology. From 1927 to 1931 more than 10 major
transmission systems were constructed in the United States. Each of these
systems was equipped with pipes having diameters of approximately 50 cm (20
inches) and extended more than 320 km (200 miles). Following World War II, a
large number of even longer pipelines of increasing diameter were constructed.
The fabrication of pipes having a diameter of up to 150 cm (60 inches) became
possible. Since the early 1970s the longest gas pipelines have had their origin
in Russia. For example, in the 1960s and ’70s the 5,470-km- (3,400-mile-) long
Northern Lights pipeline was built across the Ural Mountains and some 700 rivers
and streams, linking eastern Europe with the West Siberian gas fields on the
Arctic Circle. As a result, gas from the Urengoy field, the world’s largest, is
now transported to eastern Europe and then on to western Europe for consumption.
Another gas pipeline, shorter but also of great engineering difficulty, was the
50-cm (20-inch) Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline, which during the 1970s and ’80s
was constructed between Algeria and Sicily. The sea is more than 600 metres
(2,000 feet) deep along some parts of that route.


Temane, Mozambique: natural gas pipeline
Natural gas pipeline in Temane, Mozambique.
Sasol



NATURAL GAS AS A PREMIUM FUEL

As recently as 1960, associated gas was a nuisance by-product of oil production
in many areas of the world. The gas was separated from the crude oil stream and
eliminated as cheaply as possible, often by flaring (burning it off). Only after
the crude oil shortages of the late 1960s and early ’70s did natural gas become
an important world energy source (see oil crisis).



Even in the United States the home-heating market for natural gas was limited
until the 1930s, when town gas began to be replaced by abundant and cheaper
supplies of natural gas, which contained twice the heating value of its
synthetic predecessor. Also, when natural gas burns completely, carbon dioxide
and water are normally formed. The combustion of gas is relatively free of soot,
carbon monoxide, and the nitrogen oxides associated with the burning of other
fossil fuels. In addition, sulfur dioxide emissions, another major air
pollutant, are almost nonexistent. As a consequence, natural gas is often a
preferred fuel for environmental reasons, and it has supplanted coal as a fuel
for electric power plants in many parts of the world. Nevertheless, methane is a
very potent greenhouse gas that possesses about 25 times the heat-trapping
capacity of carbon dioxide. Despite the long-standing reputation of natural gas
as a relatively clean energy source, methane releases from storage facilities
and pipelines and during transport contribute to global warming and remain a
subject of much concern.



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External Websites
 * Energy Information Administration - Natural Gas
 * U.S. Energy Information Administration - Natural Gas
 * American Petroleum Institute - Natural Gas
 * National Geographic - Natural Gas

Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
 * Natural Gas - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * natural and manufactured gas - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

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 * Table Of Contents
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While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be
some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other
sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style
Waddams, A.L. , Carruthers, John E. , Solomon, Lee H. , Atwater, Gordon I. and
Riva, Joseph P.. "natural gas". Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Sep. 2021,
https://www.britannica.com/science/natural-gas. Accessed 14 April 2022.
Copy Citation
External Websites
 * Energy Information Administration - Natural Gas
 * U.S. Energy Information Administration - Natural Gas
 * American Petroleum Institute - Natural Gas
 * National Geographic - Natural Gas

Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
 * Natural Gas - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
 * natural and manufactured gas - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)


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