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Gas, Natural mixture of flammable gases found in the earth's crust (often in association with petroleum), now one of the world's three main fossil fuels (with coal and oil). In other words, hydrocarbons that exist as gas or vapour at ordinary pressures and temperatures. Methane is the most important, but ethane, propane and others may be present. Common impurities include nitrogen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. It may occur alone or associated with oil. Being a delta having a porous and permeable hydrocarbon-bearing sand structure and unique conditions for trap, Bangladesh has always been considered a natural gas rich country. It is largely available in the eastern part of the country extending from greater Sylhet down to greater Comilla, Noakhali and Chittagong. It has also been discovered offshore in the bay of bengal. Natural gas plays an important role in the country's economy. It is an environment friendly fuel, which undergoes clean and odourless combustion. It is widely used as fuel for domestic (cooking and heating), industrial (metallurgical, ceramic, glass, bread and biscuits, power stations, cement works, factory process steam boilers, etc) and agricultural (drying, heating, steam boilers) use. liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG) are obtained from natural gas and are used as fuels in domestic, industrial and agricultural applications. In chemical industries natural gas is used as feedstock for the manufacture of fertilisers, plastics, resins, rubbers, and various chemicals such as carbon black, detergents, ammonia, nitric acid, weed killers, etc. [M Ehsanullah] History of exploration Hydrocarbon exploration in this region commenced towards the end of the nineteenth century. In 1866 four wells were drilled near Jaipur (southwest of Digboi, Assam). The Assam Railway and Trading Company constructed the first railway in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent in the late nineteenth century. The same company started the exploration of hydrocarbons and drilling works in 1883 in the territory of Assam. Later, the Assam Oil Company was formed, and it expanded its exploration activities for petroleum products. The Burma Oil Company, the successor of the Assam Oil Company, started its petroleum exploration activities in 1911 and included the surma basin and Chittagong area in its exploration programme. Table 1 Exploration onshore wells in Bangladesh
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