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Natural Gas Reserves
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Last Updated: February 2008
Next Update: February 2009 Where does natural gas come from? The most widely accepted theory about how natural gas was created is that it was formed by the underground decomposition of organic matter (dead plants and animals). If the organic matter is buried deeply enough, much of the carbon and hydrogen is converted to methane, the major component of natural gas. (The chemical formula for methane is CH4--that is, a molecule of methane has one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms.) Large volumes of methane can be trapped in the subsurface of the Earth at places where the right geological conditions occurred at the right times. Such a place is called a reservoir. Reservoirs are made up of porous and permeable rocks that can hold significant amounts of oil and gas within their pore spaces.
What are undiscovered recoverable resources? In addition to proved natural gas reserves, there are large volumes of natural gas classified as undiscovered recoverable resources. Those resources are expected to exist because the geologic settings are favorable. Over half of all onshore undiscovered gas resources are located in the Alaska and Gulf Coast regions. Over one-third of all undiscovered gas resources are estimated to be in Federal offshore areas, primarily near Alaska, in the Gulf of Mexico, and along the Atlantic Coast.More information on this subject can be found in the following EIA publications:
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