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About
Natural Gas
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A high-energy, clean-burning fuel with many industrial,
commercial, and residential uses.
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Introduction |
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U.S. Resources |
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U.S. Demand |
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World Resources |
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World Demand |
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Introduction |
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Natural gas is a combustible mixture of hydrocarbon gases.
Composed primarily of methane, natural gas can also include
ethane, propane, butane and pentane. {
 Composition
Table }Deposits of natural gas are often found in conjunction
with petroleum and, like oil, natural gas is recovered
from wells drilled into the earth's surface.
The demand for
natural gas to heat homes, serve business and
industry, and to generate electricity has risen steadily.
In fact, natural gas is projected to be the fastest
growing primary energy source in the world through 2025. Much of the supply and production lies in
natural gas hydrates around the world. These hydrates hold great
promise, due to their abundance, but more research is required
to develop this source to its potential. |
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U. S. Resources |
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The United States has tremendous natural gas resources. However,
access to some of these resources -- both onshore and offshore
-- is limited by federal public land policies. The Energy
Information Agency (EIA) reports the following statistics: |
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As of December 31, 2002, the
estimated U.S. total proved reserves of natural gas
were at 183.46 trillion cubic feet (tcf). |
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In addition to proved natural
gas reserves, there are large volumes of natural gas
classified as undiscovered recoverable resources. Those
resources are expected to exist because the geologic
settings are favorable. Over half of all onshore
undiscovered gas resources are located in the Alaska and
Gulf Coast regions. Over one-third of all undiscovered
gas resources are estimated to be in federal offshore
areas, primarily near Alaska, in the Gulf of Mexico, and
along the Atlantic Coast. |
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U.S. Demand |
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Because it is a clean burning fuel, natural gas consumption in
the United States has been increasing at a rate in excess of
population growth. In recent decades -- as America's air
pollution control restrictions have grown tighter -- more and
more gas-fired electric power plants (especially peak demand
facilities) have been built. EIA reports on natural gas
consumption in America show that: |
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Natural gas consumption
reached 22.6 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in 2000,
a four percent increase over the previous year. |
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Natural gas supply,
consumption, and imports are projected to steadily
expand, with consumption projected at 35 tcf in 2025. |
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In the United States natural
gas consumption is used for industrial purposes,
followed by electric generators, residential, and
commercial sectors. |
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World Resources |
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The world still has vast untapped natural gas fields. According
to the most recent statistics released by the EIA: |
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Current worldwide natural gas
resources are about 13,000 tcf and natural
gas reserves are about 5,000 tcf. |
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Global estimates place the gas
volume resident in oceanic natural gas deposits in the
range of 30,000 to 49,100,000 tcf, and in
continental natural gas hydrate deposits in the range of
5,000 to 12,000,000 tcf. |
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World production of natural
gas is dominated by the United States (24 tcf)
and Russia (21 tcf), whose combined gross production accounts for 45
percent
of the 102 tcf produced in 1998. |
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World Demand |
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As true in the United States,
much of the projected growth in natural gas consumption
throughout the world is in response to rising demand for
natural gas to generate electricity. |
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Natural gas is projected to be
the fastest growing source of primary energy
through2025. World consumption is expected to
nearly
double, to 176 tcf in 2025. |
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The share of natural gas in
world energy demand will increase from 23 percent to 28
percent by
2025. |
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