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Natural gas has been a valuable energy commodity for many centuries. Although natural gas was unpopular prior to the eighteenth century due to the use of manufactured gas such as ‘coal gas’, it was towards the latter part of the nineteenth century that most industrial countries started using natural gas and thus large transmission and distribution pipelines were constructed in transferring the gas to the required areas.

The steady utilisation of natural gas grew to the peak during the 1960s to mid-1970s when the shortage of crude oil enforced most industrial nations to find alternative ways of harnessing energy and natural gas has since become one of the main fossil fuel energy sources. Natural gas is colourless with high flammability and energy value and together with its convenience has resulted in a rapid rise to extensive use as a fuel today.