Natural gas is a fossil fuel whose main component is methane-CH4. Cooking gas is mainly composed of propane and butane and is the product of oil refinery. Natural gas has a heating value of about 1000 BTU per (gaseous) cubic foot while propane has a heating value of 2500 BTU
The entire volume of natural gas contained and trapped in the earth, before any is extracted and produced. Essentially, the total resource base includes estimations of all of the natural gas that is, or was (before production), trapped in the earth. Most of this natural gas is in forms that are technically non-recoverable. For instance, there is a great deal of natural gas located in very low concentrations throughout the earth’s crust. The technology does not exist, nor is it expected to come about in the near future, to effectively extract this gas. The remainder of the total resource base is natural gas that is obtainable using current or foreseeable technology. It is this portion of the resource base that is of most interest, and is included in estimates of the amount of natural gas.
Prices of natural gas that move up and down in a volatile manner due to a host of influences, many of which tend to be dictated by supply, demand and climate changes. Just as an example, when an earthquake in 2007 forced a Japanese nuclear plant to close, utilities there ramped up natural gas use and prices soared in Japan, which in turn drove up prices in Europe. The global scramble for scarce LNG then worsened as a drought hit Spain towards the end of the same year, cutting Spain’s ability to use hydroelectric power. Spain normally leans on Algeria and Egypt for LNG imports, but in February 2008 those countries were busy shipping to Japan where prices were twice as high as in Spain. Spain then turned to Trinidad for imports. This meant less gas for the closer – but lower priced – US market, which in the past has taken most of Trinidad’s output. Trinidad’s shipments to the US through the first two months of the 2008 were down 31%.
Natural gas and oil prices are influenced by a number of issues, partially psychological in nature (speculative investments, perceived risks, government interference in oil and gas markets in the form of subsidies) and partially due to economic, political or technical factors (higher demand, tight capacity along the whole chain of supply – transport – storage – refining and the threat of interruptions). Issues on the supply and demand side that influence pricing also include weather (hurricanes that reduce supply, summer that increases road transport and the use of air-conditioning), geopolitical events in energy exporting countries, higher GDP in energy consuming countries and a host of other factors. In 2000, as natural gas was first made available in Israel at approximately $2.5 mmbtu, the price in Europe and the US averaged $3.2 and $4.2 mmbtu respectively. By 2007, the price of natural gas had increased to between $7 – $9 in the US and EU respectively, having peaked shortly to $15 mmbtu after the devastating hurricane season hit the Gulf coast of the US in the summer of 2005. During the same time period LNG costs have also shown a fourfold increase, from $2 billion to $8 billion a train. Brent crude oil which was $28.5 a barrel in 2000 hurtled past the $100 psychological barrier for the first time ever at the beginning of 2008 peaking on 11th July 2008 to $147 a barrel and decreasing after that to just above $100 a barrel by September.
Forecasts for natural gas prices for 2010 range from $4.75 per million BTUs, from Citigroup, to $9 from Sanford C. Bernstein. The disparity reflects uncertainty about a variety of factors, from whether the recent drilling breakthroughs will result in long-lasting supply growth, to whether concerns about climate change will result in a decisive move toward natural gas, which is considered a relatively environmentally friendly fuel. The end result is that while the law of supply and demand held in 2009, there isn’t any guarantee that the amount of supply or demand won’t change significantly in the future.
Natural gas liquids recovery refers to the process of removing and gathering propane, butane and other heavier hydrocarbon products from natural gas. The process is often used to reduce a gas stream’s BTU value to meet pipeline tariff requirements while removing excess liquids that may condense and cause problems in transmission. The liquids are recovered as a y-grade mix that is accumulated in a tank on site and later trucked to a refinery for fractionation into its saleable hydrocarbon components. The end result is a gas stream that meets pipeline quality standards with the benefit of a by-product which provides additional revenue for the producer
Is a mixture of hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon gasses with a significant content of methane (CH4) which is in a gaseous state at a temperature of 15°C and at normal atmospheric pressure
NIOC’s oil and gas in place reserves are 137 bn barrels and 28.17 trillion cubic meters. Current NIOC production capacities include 4 million barrels of crude oil and 437 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. Iran has had little exploration activity during the past 30 years, but that is changing as firms from several countries (including France, Italy, Malaysia, and the UK) have ignored US government sanctions to sign development agreements.
National Grid (formerly Transco) is an international electricity and gas company and one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world.
UK retail (Centrica), Gas transportation (Transco, subsequently acquired by National Grid) and International production (BG Group)
National Grid plays a vital role in delivering gas and electricity to many millions of people across Great Britain and northeastern US. National Grid owns and operates the electricity transmission network in England and Wales (comprised of approximately 7,200 km of overhead line, about 675 km of underground cable and 337 substations); the gas transmission network in Great Britain (comprised of approximately 7,400 km of high pressure pipe and 26 compressor stations, connecting to 8 distribution networks and to third party independent systems for onward transportation of gas to end consumers); and electricity transmission networks in the northeastern US and are also responsible for the operation of the electricity transmission networks in Scotland.
National Grid also owns and operates four LNG storage facilities in Great Britain. It is the company which runs the ‘Balancing Mechanism’ and electricity transmission system in England and Wales and is responsible for the maintenance and safety of the gas supply network up to and including the gas meter. National Grid is also responsible for registering the gas supply contract between a consumer and supplier, for nominating the Annual Quantity and allocating Meter Point Reference Numbers
The National Joint Stock Company Naftogaz of Ukraine is the leading enterprise in Ukraine’s fuel and energy complex, one of the biggest Ukrainian companies. Naftogaz of Ukraine produces one eighth of the gross domestic product of Ukraine and provides one tenth of the State budget revenues. The total number of the Company’s employees is 170 thousand people, which is about 1% of Ukraine’s employable population. NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine is a vertically integrated oil and gas company engaged in full cycle of operations in gas and oil field exploration and development, production and exploratory drilling, gas and oil transport and storage, supply of natural gas and LPG to consumers. Over 97% of the oil and gas in Ukraine is produced by the enterprises of the Company. > >
Nox reduction methods include the use of “low Nox burners”. These specially designed burners restrict the amount of oxygen available in the hottest part of the combustion chamber where the coal is burned. This minimizes the formation of the gas and requires less post-combustion treatment
