Category:Natural Gas
From Eurêka
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Natural Gas
Natural gas Mixture of hydrocarbon gases occurring in subterranean rock reservoirs, often in association with petroleum products. It is composed by weight of methane (84.6%), ethane (6.4%), propane (5.3%) and several other minor hydrocarbons. The reservoirs are not hollow caverns but solid rocks with pore spaces sufficiently large to accommodate the accumulation of gas.
- Associated gas Free natural gas found in immediate contact, but not in solution, with crude oil in a reservoir.
- Associated liquids Liquid hydrocarbons found in association with natural gas.
- Non-associated gas Free natural gas not in contact with, nor dissolved in, crude oil in the reservoir.
- Dissolved gas Natural gas in solution in crude oil in a reservoir.
- Sour gas Gas found in its natural state, containing such amount of compounds of sulfur as to make it impractical to use without purifying, because of its corrosive effect on piping and equipment.
- Sweet gas Gas found in its natural state, containing such small amounts of compounds of sulfur that it can be used without purifying, and it has no deleterious effect on piping and equipment.
Gas field Reservoir of natural gas.
- Wet gas Unprocessed natural gas or partially processed natural gas produced from strata containing condensable hydrocarbons.
- Dry gas Natural gas produced from wells which do not contain liquid hydrocarbons, the gas itself contains few higher hydrocarbons which can be commercially recoverable as liquid product.
Cushion gas Gas required in a reservoir, needed for storage of natural gas so that reservoir pressure is such that the storage gas may be recovered.
Absorption plant Device that removes hydrocarbon compounds from natural gas, especially casinghead gasoline.
- Casinghead gasoline Volatile hydrocarbons which separate as liquids from natural gas as it rises from the reservoir and pressure on it declines. The liquid is removed at the well head.
Acid-gas removal Removal of hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from the gas stream.
Gas-gathering system Network or grid gathering gas from a number of wells and delivering to a single point.
Marketable natural gas (Pipeline gas; Residue gas; Sales gas) Raw gas from which certain hydrocarbons and non-hydrocarbon compounds have been removed by processing.
Boiler fuel gas Natural gas used as a fuel for the generation of steam (or hot water).
Liquefied Natural Gas
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) Natural gas which has been Liquefied by compression and cooling for ease of transport and storage.
- Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) Either propane or butane or a mixture of the two, which have been liquefied to facilitate storage and transportation.
- Bottled gas Liquefied petroleum gas contained under moderate pressure in cylinders, usually propane and/or butane.
- Bottles Trade term for the cylinders containing bottled gas.
Enriching Increasing the heat content of a gas by mixing it with a gas of higher btu content.
- See also Gas pipelines
Natural Gas Industry
GdF-Suez (Gaz de France/Suez) French state-owned utility giant Gaz de France and Franco-Belgian Suez agreed to merge their gas and electricity operations to create the world's third-largest utility by market capitalization, 3 September 2007. The new company had a combined market capitalization of 70 billion euros ($95 billion) after the Suez Environment spinoff, making it the biggest buyer and seller of gas in Europe.
- Suez Environment Suez's water and waste division.
Note Eager to keep Suez, which was deemed a strategic asset, in French hands, the government engineered the proposed Suez-GdF merger. The move was widely decried outside of France as protectionist.
Natural Gas Demand
World LNG demand Natural gas has grown about 2.6% a year in the decade up to 2007, in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa it has averaged 7% over the same period. Growth in the developing world is expected to be supported in the years ahead by a construction boom in refineries and power and petrochemical plants.
Globalization of LNG Natural gas, unlike oil, is still a regional commodity and its price is only loosely connected to world oil benchmark prices. But LNG has tied regional markets closer, and the arc of natural gas prices appears to be following close behind oil in recent months because of tightening LNG supplies. Countries that produce oil and gas like Libya and Algeria are replacing their oil-powered electricity plants with natural gas-burning plants. That way, they are able to export more oil, which costs less to ship than LNG.
Sonora Pacific LNG Terminal Built outside Puerto Libertad, Mexico. The $1 billion joint venture between El Paso Corp. and DKRW Energy LLC of Houston. About 60% of its gas will be piped over the border, 2008.
Note US imports of natural gas rose 42 percent from 1996 to 2006, to nearly 4.2 trillion cubic feet.
Sabine Pass terminal Part of an estimated $7 billion construction of eight new LNG receiving terminals being built around the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast 2003-08 to guarantee plentiful domestic supplies. With imports about 40 percent of the level of a year ago, and national receiving terminal capacity poised to double this year, the excess construction of import capacity has alarmed industry executives.
World LNG scarcity World LNG supplies grew even more scarce because of a persistent drought in Spain that has crimped that country’s hydroelectric capacity, forcing the Spanish to increase LNG imports. An earthquake in Japan in July 2007 forced the closure of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which in turn has forced Japanese utilities to import huge amounts of LNG.
