Natural Gas Origins

Natural gas is one of the world’s most important fossil fuels. The denotation of “fossil fuel” comes from the belief that most scientists share, that natural gas and other “fossil fuels” were formed from the remains of tiny sea animals and plants that perished 200-400 million years ago. Scientists believe that when these tiny organisms died, they sank to the bottom of the ocean, where over many years, the pressure created by the ever-thickening layers of ocean floor combined with the earth’s heat to change the molecular structure of the organic remains into deposits of petroleum and natural gas. Natural gas only occurs in the areas of the earth where this built up pressure and volcanic heat combine to produce the necessary chemical reaction for production. Geologists are able to locate natural gas deposits by studying the types of rock and formations that usually occur where gas is present. Raw natural gas is a mixture of gases whose main ingredient, methane, is a natural occurring compound formed when plant and animal matter decays. It is odorless, colorless, and tasteless, so companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp add a chemical with a sulfuric smell like rotten eggs so that leaks can be detected quickly, otherwise the volatile fuel leaking could rapidly lead to dangerous situations within the home or industrial environments.

Ancient peoples of the world from China to Greece were curious of the fires that were created when lightning struck natural gas seepages and were ignited. Often times, temples or shrines were built around these seepages so that the mystically occurring fires could be worshipped. The earliest recorded instances of drilling for natural gas comes from ancient China. The Chinese, in their search for salt wells, pioneered a technology of driving bamboo poles into the earth to depths of up to a kilometer. Often this drilling for brine pierced deeply buried natural gas reservoirs and was captured and stored in barrels to be burned as fuel. This fuel was burned to evaporate the water from the brine leaving only the salt intact. In America, natural gas was first used to light the streets of Baltimore in 1816. It was shortly after this, that a man named William Hart dug the first natural gas well in Fredonia, New York, in 1821. The nation’s first natural gas company, the Fredonia Gas Light Company opened for business in 1858, marking only the beginning of the soon to spread usage throughout America that has resulted in natural gas accounting for about a quarter of the energy used in America every year.

About the Author: Bob Jent is the president of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties. For more information, visit http://www.triplediamondenergycorp.blogspot.com.