Natural gas can be found within certain kinds of porous, sedimentary, rocks, where it collects. It is also frequently found near deposits of petroleum. One of the types of rocks that natural gas is found in is called shale. It is a sedimentary rock that is finely grained, and formed from several layers of clay. Each layer pushes down on the next one, until the pressure is intense enough to form a sedimentary rock. The natural gas that comes from shale is also called “shale gas”.
After a shale deposit is located, natural gas is pumped out of the ground by use of a process called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”. The process involves the injection of over a million gallons of a mixture that is made up of water, sand, and other chemicals at high pressure down into wells that could be as far as 10,000 feet below the surface of the Earth.
The intense pressure causes cracks to form in the shale. The sand particles in the mixture hold open these newly made fissures, so that the natural gas can flow up the well. The natural gas is then collected, and stored. It can also be transported by pipeline to places far away from the source of the natural gas.
Natural gas can be found in the United States in thirty-three of the fifty states. The majority of it is found in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. Natural gas is also extracted from California, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, North Dakota, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, and Alaska. Some states, like Nevada, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York, also have some natural gas deposits.
The United States has around 22.5% of all of the natural gas deposits that are found in the world. This means that the United States places sixth on the list of countries that have proven reserves of natural gas. Russia has the most reserves of natural gas, followed by Iran, Qatar, Tukmenistan, and Saudi Arabia. Continuing down the list of the top ten countries puts the United States as number six, followed by United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Algeria.
It has been estimated that there are 175,400 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the world. Out of that total, Russia has 47,570 billion cubic meters of it. Iran has around 26,370 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, and Qatar has around 25,790 billion cubic meters. Qatar has the worlds largest natural gas field, meaning that it has the biggest source of natural gas found in one spot. It is located at Qatar’s offshore North Field. Not far away is the second largest source of natural gas, the South Pars Gas Field, which is located in the waters of Iran, in the Persian Gulf.