Natural Gas - Commodities

Introduction

Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons of fossil origin, alone or mixed with oil, in which methane has a higher share of over 70% by volume of composition. The composition of natural gas can vary greatly depending on factors relating to the field in which the gas was produced and the production process, conditioning, processing and transport of the substance.

Characteristics

The composition of natural gas can vary greatly depending on factors related to the reservoir production process, conditioning, processing and transportation. Generally, natural gas has methane content higher than 70% of its composition, density less than 1 and high calorific power, between 8,000 and 10,000 kcal / m3.

History

One of the first historical records of economic or socially usable natural gas use, appears in China, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Chinese used mineral natural gas leak sites to build blast furnaces for ceramics and metalwork.

Utilities

Natural gas is used directly as fuel, both in industries, homes and cars. It is considered a cleaner source of energy than petroleum and coal.

Markets

Futures and natural gas options contracts are mainly traded in the two largest energy commodity trading markets : the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) .