Natural gas is delivered to about 175 million American consumers through a 1.3 million-mile network of underground pipe. A total of 285,000 natural gas wells, 125 natural gas pipeline companies, and more than 1,200 gas distribution companies provide gas service to all 50 states.
Natural gas reprocessing plants are used to turn hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of unrefined, wellhead natural gas into high-quality commercial natural gas.
Production
Before natural gas is distributed, it first must be sent to a processing or "stripping" plant where it is cleaned and separated. At the processing plant, the natural gas is sent through a separator where secondary byproducts (including oils and impurities) and heavier hydrocarbons (including butane, ethane, and propane) are removed. Most of these byproducts are reprocessed, packaged, and sent to market.
Transmission
As natural gas leaves the processing plant, it enters a compressor station where it is pressurized for transmission. As the pressure is increased, the volume of natural gas is reduced and more natural gas can be filled into the same unit space while the pressure needed to move natural gas through pipelines is achieved.
As natural gas travels through pipelines, some pressure is lost due to fluid friction caused by the natural gas rubbing against the inside walls of the pipes. This loss of pressure is made up at compressor substations located every 50 to 100 miles along the transmission pipelines.
Distribution
Upon reaching a major metropolitan area, some natural gas is diverted through a "city gate" where its pressure is reduced, measured, and sold to the local gas company. From the city gate, the natural gas company distributes the natural gas through an underground network of smaller pipelines called "mains." Smaller lines called "services" connect with the mains and go directly to end-users.
