Natural gas can be priced in dollars per therm, dollars per MMBtu, or dollars per cubic foot in the United States. 1 To translate these costs from one price basis to another, the heat content of natural gas per physical unit (such as Btu per cubic foot) is required. The annual average heat content of natural gas provided to consumers in the United States in 2020 was around 1,037 Btu per cubic foot. As a result, 100 Ccf of natural gas equals 103,700 Btu, or 1.037 therms. A thousand cubic feet (Mcf) of natural gas equals 1.037 million British thermal units (MBtu), or 10.37 therms.
These calculations can be used to convert natural gas prices from one pricing basis to another (assuming a heat content of 1,037 Btu per cubic foot):
Natural gas heat content varies by location and type of natural gas customer, as well as with time. For information on the heat content of the natural gas they supply to their clients, consumers and analysts should contact natural gas distribution firms or natural gas suppliers. Customers’ invoices may include this information from some natural gas distribution providers or utilities.
1 Natural gas was measured in cubic feet by the US Energy Information Administration from 1964 to 1964 at a pressure of 14.65 psia (poundspersquareinchabsolute) at 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Since 1965, the pressure basis has been 14.73 psia at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
What does MCF stand for in a gas bill?
You can skip this step if the price per unit of gas on your account is already expressed in BTUs.
The following are the BTUS conversions for other units:
- One therm is equal to 100,000 BTUs.
- The BTU equivalent of one cubic foot of natural gas is 1,028 MCFs. As a result, one thousand cubic feet (MCF) equals 1,028,000 BTUs.
- CCFs (cubic feet per second) are equal to 102,800 BTUs.
Let’s imagine you have a 100,000 BTU heater and your gas bill is in MCFs. If an MCF costs $9.00, then:
- The price per BTU is $0.00000875486 when the price per MCF is divided by 1,028,000.
- Multiply that by 100,000 to find the cost of running the furnace every hour: around 87 cents.
What does 1000 cubic feet of natural gas cost?
The abbreviation MCF is derived from the Roman numeral M, which stands for thousand, and is combined with cubic feet (CF) to represent an amount of natural gas. A natural gas well, for example, with a daily production rate of 400,000 cubic feet produces 400 MCF of gas each day. One thousand cubic feet (MCF) of gas equals roughly 1,000,000 BTU in terms of energy output (British Thermal Units). At sea level, one BTU is equal to the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit (which is roughly equivalent to a kitchen match).
How do you figure out MCF?
With a little arithmetic, it is possible to convert from one measurement system to another.
If you want to do some fast math, burning 100 cubic feet of natural gas (1 CCF) is roughly similar to burning one therm of gas. However, that figure is predicated on the efficiency of natural gas, or its “heat content.”
The annual average heat content of natural gas delivered to consumers in the United States is 1,037 British Thermal Units (BTU) per cubic foot, according to the Energy Information Administration (CF).
So, 100 cubic feet (1 CCF) of natural gas equals 103,700 Btu, or 1.037 therms, if you want the exact conversion.
This translates to 1.037 MMBtu, or 10.37 therms, per thousand cubic feet (1 MCF) of natural gas.
Here’s how to convert between multiple natural gas unit measurements and prices:
- $ per therm is $ per Ccf divided by 1.037.
- $ per Ccf is $ per therm multiplied by 1.037.
- $ per Mcf is equal to $ per MMBtu when divided by 1.037.
- $ per therm is $ per Mcf divided by 10.37.
- $ per Mcf = $ per MMBtu multiplied by 1.037
- $ per Mcf = $ per therm multiplied by 10.37
The following steps will show you how to convert MCF to CCF and vice versa:
- Multiply MCF by 10 to convert MCF to CCF.
- To convert CCF to MCF, multiply it by ten.
What is the current price of natural gas?
The Henry Hub Natural Gas Spot Price is a unit of measurement for the price of 1 million Btu of natural gas in US dollars. When there was a major scarcity of natural gas in February of 2003, the price of natural gas skyrocketed. Within a month, the price of natural gas jumped from $5.58 to $18.48.
The current Henry Hub Natural Gas Spot Price is $8.47, up from $8.46 the previous trading day and $3.02 a year ago.
This is a shift of 0.12 percent from the previous trading day and a year ago of 180.5 percent.
Who has the most affordable natural gas?
Natural gas prices in Utah are the cheapest, at $9.12 per 1,000 cubic feet. That’s approximately 8% less than second-placed Montana. For the month, the average rate was $17.57.
Why is the price of natural gas rising?
Extreme temperatures tend to increase demand for the power-generation fuel, thus hot weather could be beneficial to the market. The significant rise in natural-gas prices is expected to continue, according to analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates.
Are Natural Gas Prices Set to Rise in 2021?
The price in April will be determined by international pricing from January to December 2021. According to AK Jana, managing director of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, every dollar increase in domestic natural gas prices will necessitate a Rs 4.5 per kilogram increase in CNG prices. This translates to a Rs 15 per kg increase in CNG prices.
How is natural gas sold measured?
At a certain temperature and pressure, a cubic foot of natural gas is the amount of gas that can be contained in a cube one foot on a side. However, gas is not produced on a large scale “Temperature and pressure are set to a standard. The amount of gas that may be held in a one-foot cube is affected by temperature and pressure. The more gas that can be trapped in a cubic foot of space, the higher the pressure. Conversely, when the temperature rises, the amount of gas that can be trapped in a cubic foot of space decreases. As a result, when a gas is measured, it must also be measured in terms of pressure and temperature. The volume of the gas at its current temperature and pressure can then be rectified to indicate the volume of the same gas at a standard temperature and pressure. The volume provided by producers to the Texas Railroad Commission at standard temperature and pressure is also the volume utilized to calculate the price the purchaser will pay for the gas.
When measuring volumewater content, another variable must be taken into account. When most gas is created, some water vapor is dissolved in it. Water vapor takes up a lot of room. As a result, gas containing a lot of water vapor has less natural gas per unit volume than gas containing no water vapor. “There is no water vapor in dry gas.” “There is water vapor in wet gas.” The highest amount of water vapor that may be contained in a gas without precipitating out as liquid water is called a saturated gas. As a result, measured gas volumes must be corrected for the presence of water vapor.
Technically, gas measurement is a well developed science. Gas meters do not directly measure volume. An orifice plate in a gas meter is a plate having a small hole through which the gas must pass. The pressure on either side of the orifice is measured by the meter. The volume of gas going through the aperture can be calculated using the pressure differential (the difference in pressure on either side of the orifice).
Gas is sold based on its heating value rather than its volume. British thermal units, or Btu’s, are used to measure the amount of heat in a room. At one atmosphere of pressure, a Btu is the amount of heat necessary to raise one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. The calorie equivalent of a Btu is 251.99 Btu.
We’ll have to go back to high school chemistry for this. Methane makes up the majority of natural gas. CH4 is the chemical formula for methane, a hydrocarbon molecule with one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. However, natural gas may contain ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10), and other hydrocarbons as it is produced “hydrocarbons with a higher density For the same unit of volume, heavier hydrocarbons have a higher heating valuea higher Btu content.
At standard temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.73 pounds per square inch), one cubic foot of methane gas contains exactly 1,000 Btus. One million Btus, or one MMBtu, is contained in one thousand cubic feet of methane, or 1 mcf. The MMBtu unit of measurement is used to price gas. Gas sold at $5 per MMBtu would be $5 per mcf if it was purely methane.
Natural gas, on the other hand, is frequently a mixture of methane, ethane, propane, and other hydrocarbons, thus its Btu content can easily reach 1,000 Btus per cubic foot. Because natural gas is sold in MMBtu units, it is necessary to determine not just its volume but also its Btu composition. The Btu content of gas is determined by obtaining a sample and analyzing it to identify its hydrocarbon elements. Because the hydrocarbon content of gas from a specific well does not fluctuate significantly over time, this is done once or twice a year for each well. “Btu content in rich natural gas can be as high as 1,200 Btu per cubic foot or higher. Carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and other gases may be present in natural gas, lowering its heating value to less than 1,000 Btus per cubic foot.
MMBtus/mcf is the standard unit of measurement for gas Btu content. The Btu content of gas with a Btu content of 1,200 Btu per cubic foot is 1.2 MMBtus/mcf.
The volume of a gas can readily be converted to Btus once the heating value has been determined. If a well produces 100,000 mcf of gas with a heating value of 1,200 Btu per cubi foot, the total MMBtu’s of gas produced is calculated by multiplying mcf by MMBtu’s/mcf: 100,000 X 1.2 = 120,000 MMBtus.
A barrel of oil, for example, has around 5.8 MMBtus (depending on the constituency of the oil). As a result, a barrel of oil is about equivalent to 5.8 mcf of methane in terms of heating value. When firms describe their production or reserves in “barrels of oil equivalent,” or “boe,” they’re converting their gas reserves into oil barrels at a 5.8-to-1 ratio. Methane is now significantly cheaper than oil based on its heating value. Oil would sell for $20.30 per barrel on a Btu-equivalent basis at the present price of natural gas, which is around $3.50 per mcf.
Even though the actual pricing is based on Btus, exploration companies must record their natural gas production in mcf on royalty checks. To determine the price per MMBtu, you must first determine the gas’s Btu content. Some businesses provide this data in their check details. If the information isn’t available, the corporation should supply it if asked. Without knowing the Btu content of the gas being produced, it is impossible to compare pricing between companies and wells.
What is the cost of a unit of gas?
The amount of gas consumed at a property is measured in units of gas. One kilowatt hour (kWh) of gas utilized equals one unit of gas. It’s vital to note that your gas meter doesn’t directly reflect how many units you’re consuming; instead, depending on the type of meter you have, it measures the amount of gas used by volume in Cubic Meters (m3) or Cubic Feet (ft3). Your energy provider converts this to Units (kWh’s) on your gas bill. You’ll be charged in pence per kWh (unit) of gas used after that.
