16 FEBRUARY 2025 WorldWide Drilling Resource® www.starironworks.com 257 Caroline Street Punxsutawney, PA 15767 800-927-0560 • 814-427-2555 Fax: 814-427-5164 SERVING THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Serving the Drilling Industry Natural Gas ~ Fueling Mankind Adapted from Information by the American Petroleum Institute Natural gas is made up of a mixture of four naturally occurring gases - methane, which makes up 70-90% of natural gas, along with ethane, butane, and propane. These gases are a result of compacted heat and pressure from deceased animals buried deep under the planet’s surface for millions of years. Humans have been fascinated with natural gas long before civilization even understood what it was. Long ago, between 6000 and 2000 B.C., natural gas was first discovered when lightning strikes ignited gas seeping from the ground in the Middle East. In 500 B.C., Chinese civilizations were creating pipelines from bamboo shoots to transport the gas, where they would use the gas to boil sea water to separate the salt and create drinking water. In America, it was 1626, when French explorers noticed Native Americans were igniting gases seeping from Lake Erie. More than 100 years later in 1785, Britain became the first country to commercialize the use of natural gas, using it to fuel lighthouses and streetlights. By 1821, the first operation to obtain natural gas in America was conducted in Fredonia, New York, by William Hart, who is known as the “father of natural gas” as he pioneered the first American natural gas company known as the Fredonia Gas Light Company. After World War II, the natural gas pipeline industry boomed. America constructed thousands of miles of pipelines by the 1960s, and continues to this day. Most natural gas in the U.S. is retrieved though a “horse head” pump, which moves up and down to lift a rod in and out of a wellbore, bringing the gas to the surface. Another technique, hydraulic fracturing, creates tiny cracks in the rocks near natural gas reservoirs, which opens a pathway for the gas to flow to the surface. Natural gas deposits in the earth’s surface are usually found near oil deposits. The deeper the deposit, the higher percentage of natural gas. The deepest deposits are pure natural gas. Natural gas is also found in the intestines of animals - including humans - and in low-oxygen areas near the surface of the earth. It is estimated the U.S. has at least a 100-year supply of natural gas. Today, you’ll see natural gas drilling right alongside oil drilling. Once extracted, the gas is combined with a liquid called crude oil where it is converted into everyday energy. With the country’s natural gas production increasing more than 20% in the past few years, the U.S. is now the world’s leading producer of natural gas. The nation’s first gas street lamp, located in Baltimore, Maryland, was lit on February 7, 1817. This landmark was rededicated 200 years later. Photo courtesy of the Historical Marker Database. G&O
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