Home > Encyclopedia of Science > Natural Gas

• History of the discovery and use of natural gas
• Natural gas and the environment
• Words to Know

Natural gas is a fossil fuel. Most scientists believe natural gas was created by the same forces that formed oil, another fossil fuel. In prehistoric times, much of Earth was covered by water containing billions of tiny plants and animals that died and accumulated on ocean floors. Over the ages, sand and mud also drifted down to the ocean floor. As these layers piled up over millions of years, their weight created pressure and heat that changed the decaying organic material into oil and gas. In many places, solid rock formed above the oil and gas, trapping it in reservoirs.

Natural gas consists mainly of methane, the simplest hydrocarbon (organic compound that contains only carbon and...