page_title: Natural gas
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Natural gas / Energy content, statistics, and pricing / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Trends in the top five natural gas-producing countries (US EIA data)
context_page_description: 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 non-renewable hydrocarbon used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is also used as a fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals.
  Although not as damaging as coal natural gas is a major cause of climate change; it is a greenhouse gas itself, and creates carbon dioxide during oxidation. Natural gas can be used in place of coal, for example, to generate electricity, which may lower net carbon dioxide emissions in absence of carbon capture.
context_section_description: In US units, one standard cubic foot (28 L) of natural gas produces around 1,028 British thermal units (1,085 kJ). The actual heating value when the water formed does not condense is the net heat of combustion and can be as much as 10% less.
  In the United States, retail sales are often in units of therms (th); 1 therm = 100,000 BTU. Gas sales to domestic consumers are often in units of 100 standard cubic feet (scf). Gas meters measure the volume of gas used, and this is converted to therms by multiplying the volume by the energy content of the gas used during that period, which varies slightly over time. The typical annual consumption of a single family residence is 1,000 therms or one Residential Customer Equivalent (RCE). Wholesale transactions are generally done in decatherms (Dth), thousand decatherms (MDth), or million decatherms (MMDth). A million decatherms is a trillion BTU, roughly a billion cubic feet of natural gas.
  The price of natural gas varies greatly depending on location and type of consumer. In 2007, a price of $7 per 1000 cubic feet ($0.25/m³) was typical in the United States. The typical caloric value of natural gas is roughly 1,000 BTU per cubic foot, depending on gas composition. This corresponds to around $7 per million BTU or around $7 per gigajoule (GJ). In April 2008, the wholesale price was $10 per 1000 cubic feet ($10/million BTU). The residential price varies from 50% to 300% more than the wholesale price. At the end of 2007, this was $12–$16 per 1000 cubic feet ($0.42–$0.57/m³). Natural gas in the United States is traded as a futures contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Each contract is for 10,000 million BTU or 10 billion BTU (10,551 GJ). Thus, if the price of gas is $10/million BTU on the NYMEX, the contract is worth $100,000.
caption: Trends in the top five natural gas-producing countries (US EIA data)
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