Natural gas consists primarily of methane, with lesser amounts of (in order of abundance) ethane, propane, butane, pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons. Natural gas also contains non-energy components such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and water.
New Brunswick's primary source of natural gas is Sable Island, Nova Scotia. Other sources of natural gas within New Brunswick include liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Canaport LNG terminal and McCully Field.
Natural gas is brought to the surface from a reservoir using gas wells regularly spaced to conserve resources. Gathering systems bring it from individual wells to processing plants. Processed natural gas consists almost entirely of methane, so the other components are removed either at processing facilities, at the gas field or at straddle plants located on pipeline systems.
Enbridge Gas New Brunswick is responsible for ensuring the safe and reliable delivery of natural gas through our underground pipeline network located under the roads and sidewalks of the municipalities served. From the distribution network, natural gas is delivered to homes and businesses via individual service lines and meters.
What are the benefits of using natural gas?
You would be surprised just how much natural gas can do for homes and businesses. It creates fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the other fossil fuels, it is efficient, flexible, convenient, safe and economical.
Did you know?
In New Brunswick, natural gas is measured and billed in Gigajoules (GJ), which is the metric version of the British Thermal Unit (BTU). A Gigajoule is a unit of energy that has a heat value of approximately 948,000 BTUs. One GJ is roughly equivalent to 26 litres of heating oil, 40 litres of propane and 277.84 kWh of electricity.