ABSTRACT
With reserves to production ratio of natural gas 50 percent larger than oil and with plenty of potential for expansion, the “oil and gas industry” may one day be dubbed the “gas and oil industry.” This chapter covers the history of natural gas from its beginning as a manufactured gas made from coal. It is the most regulated of fossil fuels because only one natural gas pipeline can be connected to a house, just as a house can have only one electrical cable. Like electricity, natural gas is in the midst of deregulation (liberalization). How natural gas travels from the earth to consumption point is discussed, along with the growth of the international trade in natural gas and the possibility of developing nonconventional sources of methane.
