How is natural gas produced

If the results of seismic surveys indicate that a site has potential for producing natural gas, an exploratory well is drilled and tested. The results of the test provide information on the quality and quantity of natural gas available in the resource. If the results from a test well show that a geologic formation has enough natural gas to produce and make a profit, one or more production or development wells are drilled.

Natural gas wells can be drilled vertically and horizontally into natural gas-bearing formations. In conventional natural gas deposits, the natural gas generally flows easily up through wells to the surface. In the United States and in a few other countries, natural gas is produced from shale and other types of sedimentary rock formations by forcing water, chemicals, and sand down a well under high pressure.

This process, called hydraulic fracturing or fracking , and sometimes referred to as unconventional production, breaks up the formation, releases the natural gas from the rock, and allows the natural gas to flow to and up wells to the surface. At the top of the well on the surface, natural gas is put into gathering pipelines and sent to natural gas processing plants.

Because natural gas is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, natural gas companies add mercaptan to natural gas to give it a distinct and unpleasant odor to help detect leaks in natural gas pipelines.

Mercaptan is a harmless chemical that smells like rotten eggs. Natural gas withdrawn from natural gas or crude oil wells is called wet natural gas because, along with methane, it usually contains NGL—ethane, propane, butanes, and pentanes—and water vapor. Wellhead natural gas may also contain nonhydrocarbons such as sulfur, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide, most of which must be removed from natural gas before it is sold to consumers.

From the wellhead, natural gas is sent to processing plants where water vapor and nonhydrocarbon compounds are removed and NGL are separated from the wet gas and sold separately. Some ethane is often left in the processed natural gas. The separated NGL are called natural gas plant liquids NGPL , and the processed natural gas is called dry , consumer-grade , or pipeline quality natural gas. Some wellhead natural gas is sufficiently dry and satisfies pipeline transportation standards without processing.

Chemicals called odorants are added to natural gas so that leaks in natural gas pipelines can be detected. Dry natural gas is sent through pipelines to underground storage fields or to distribution companies and then to consumers. In places where natural gas pipelines are not available to take away associated natural gas produced from oil wells, the natural gas may be reinjected into the oil-bearing formation, or it may be vented or burned flared.

Reinjecting unmarketable natural gas can help to maintain pressure in oil wells to improve oil production. Coalbed methane can be extracted from coal deposits before or during coal mining, and it can be added to natural gas pipelines without any special treatment.

Most of the natural gas consumed in the United States is produced in the United States. Also in Units and calculators explained Units and calculators Energy conversion calculators British thermal units Btu Degree days. Also in U. Also in Use of energy explained Use of energy Energy use in industry Energy use for transportation Energy use in homes Energy use in commercial buildings Energy efficiency and conservation.

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Also in Coal explained Coal Mining and transportation Where our coal comes from Imports and exports How much coal is left Use of coal Prices and outlook Coal and the environment. Economically, it is not always viable to extract unconventional gas types, because it is not cost-effective. Yet, new technologies are developing every day to make natural gas extraction easier.

Deep Natural Gas types belong to the unconventional category. These are hard to extract for different reasons. Biogas: It contains less methane gas than natural gas, but still a reliable energy source. It is a type of gas that is produced when organic matter decomposes without oxygen being present. It can be trapped alone or with oil: as we drill deeper, the possibility of finding natural gas instead of oil is getting bigger.

First, a test well confirms that the deposit has enough natural gas and extracting it can be cost-effective. Then new production wells will be drilled. Oil extraction often comes with natural gas extraction.

What is Natural Gas? Conventional natural gas is trapped in reservoirs in porous rock such as sandstone. This natural gas is easy to produce using traditional drilling methods.

Most conventional reserves in Canada have been extensively developed. Unconventional natural gas is found in tight non-porous rock formations, such as shale. These resources are recovered through a combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.