Hobbies And Interests
Environmental Issues
International concerns over pollution can hinder the development of a possible energy source, like natural gas. Natural gas burns cleaner than coal or oil, but to take the natural gas from the earth emits a large amount of greenhouse gases, including methane. This can pose as a natural restriction to increasing the infrastructure needed for natural gas. With high amounts of pollution, some countries or international groups, like environmental groups across the world, may protest natural gas.
High Demand, Low Supply
Because of low infrastructure investments, public demand seems high for natural gas, but there is little supply that can enter into the international market. Many natural gas wells across the world and owned by multi-national corporations are not complete, due to insufficient funds or local governments not allowing the company to drill underground. If the wells do not have the appropriate tools to drill and capture natural gas, a country like the United States cannot utilize its own natural gas for its energy market or sell the gas into the world market.
Pipelines
Natural gas, like many fossil fuels, is usually transported through pipelines. These pipelines can cross thousands of miles, going through state borders. For example; a natural gas company in the United States can have a pipeline that goes through the U.S. and into Mexico, selling natural gas to consumers in both countries. However, there are environmental and safety concerns to such large pipelines going across countries. For example, there are concerns that methane may leak out of long pipelines and cause environmental damage. Methane is highly flammable and the chance of ruptures increases the chance of explosions.
Geo-Politics
Only a certain number of countries control a wide supply of the natural gas reserves in the world. Countries such as Russia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and Saudi Arabia hold more than 2/3 of the world's known natural gas supplies. Hence; if multi-national corporations or other countries desire natural gas, they often must work with these five countries to receive natural gas. This gives these countries a political advantage in world politics, due to their surplus of natural resources. There have also been instances where many of the countries use their natural gas reserves exclusively for their own economies and not for use in the world economy. This is often used as a reason for many countries, like the United States, to invest more in natural gas infrastructure, since other countries cannot be trusted sources for natural gas.