Natural gas Natural gas Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes, and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, or helium. It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years. The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas. Natural gas is a fossil fuel used as a source of energy for heating,
Billion cubic metres of natural gas standard, the gas volume is measured at . That means that 1 billion cubic metres of natural gas by the International Energy Agency standard is equivalent to 1.017 billion cubic metres of natural gas by the Russian standard. Some other organizations use an energy equivalent-based standards. BP uses a standard which is equivalent to per billion cubic metres. Cedigaz uses a standard which is equivalent to per billion cubic metres. Billion cubic metres of natural gas Billion cubic metres of natural gas (abbreviated: bcm) is a measure of natural gas production and trade. Depending of implied standards, this measure may