ABSTRACT
Traditionally natural gas has been the unwanted child of oil exploration, which is at the root of the policy issues and options affecting gas development programs. The gas business is structurally very different from the oil business. The majority of exploration activity that hits a non-associated gas reservoir is searching for oil. Such gas finds are often considered dry holes from the oil point of view. Natural gas promises to become the leading energy source into the twenty-first century. The logistical analysis of Marchetti shows gas penetrating global energy markets in competition with oil, coal, nuclear fissile and fusion energies to reach a market share peak in 2030. Irrespective of the actual market penetration of natural gas in global energy markets over the next 100 years, the absolute market size of gas is likely to be many times greater than its level. The history of natural gas development has evolved since the nineteenth century.
