Natural gas

Natural gas (commonly refered to as gas in many countries, but note that this is also American and Canadian slang for gasoline) is a gaseous fossil fuel consisting primarily of methane. It is found in oil fields and natural gas fields, as well as—in smaller quantities—in coal beds.

Storage and transport

The major difficulty in the use of natural gas is transportation and storage. Natural gas pipelines are economical, but are impractical across oceans. Many existing pipelines in North America are close to reaching their capacity prompting some politicians in colder climates to speak publicly of potential shortages. Liquefied natural gas tankers are also used, but have higher cost and safety problems. In many cases, as with oil fields the natural gas which is recovered in the course of recovering petroleum cannot be profitably sold, and is simply burned at the oil field (known as flaring). This wasteful practice is now illegal in many countries, especially since it adds greenhouse gas pollution to the earth's atmosphere, and since a profitable method may be found in the future. Instead, the gas is instead re-injected back into the formation for later recovery. This is known as Underground Gas Storage (UGS). It also assists oil pumping by keeping underground pressures higher. In Saudi Arabia, in the late 1970s, a "Master Gas System" was created, ending the need for flaring. The natural gas is used to generate electricity and heat for desalinization.

Related Topics:
Transport - Pipelines - Ocean - Liquefied natural gas - Tankers - Oil field - Petroleum - Profit - Burned - Flaring - Waste - Greenhouse gas - Pollution - Earth's atmosphere - Inject - Recovery - Pump - Pressure - Saudi Arabia - 1970s - Desalinization

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Natural gas is often stored in underground caverns formed inside salt domes as Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), or in tanks as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Related Topics:
Salt domes - Compressed Natural Gas - Liquefied Natural Gas

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~