What is natural gas?

Natural gas is a naturally occurring gaseous mixture or hydrocarbon component and consists mainly of methane. Other constituents include ethane, propane and butane which are referred to as liquefied petroleum gases and condensates which are heavier hydrocarbons. The composition of the gas differs from one gas reservoir to another.

When the temperature of natural gas is reduced to -161 degrees Celsius and at atmospheric pressure, the gas changes from a vapour to a liquid. This shrinks the gas to less than 600 times its original volume. LNG is less than half as dense as water. It is colourless, odourless and non-toxic. It is stored as a liquid and later regasified as needed. As a clean-burning fossil fuel, countries as Japan have used revaporised LNG to help its air pollution problems.

Natural gas reserves can be found around the world. It exists as a gas or in solution with oil in natural underground reservoirs.