View source for Billion cubic metres of natural gas

{{short description|Measure of natural gas}}
'''Billion cubic meters of natural gas''' (non [[International System of Units|SI]] abbreviation: '''bcm''') or '''cubic kilometer of natural gas''' is a measure of [[Chemistry:Natural gas|natural gas]] production and trade. Some definitions cite volume, others energy content.

Dependant of implied standards, this measure may represent different value of energy content. According to the standard defined by the [[Organization:International Energy Agency|International Energy Agency]], it corresponds in average to {{convert|38.2|PJ}} of energy in the case of Russian natural gas and {{convert|41.4|PJ}} of energy in the case of Qatar's natural gas.<ref name=weo2011>
{{cite book
 | author = IEA
 | title = World Energy Outlook 2011
 | publisher = OECD
 | year = 2011
 | page = 304
 | isbn = 978-92-64-12413-4}}
</ref>

==Volume based definitions==
According to the standard defined by the International Energy Agency, the gas physical volume is used, which is [[Physics:Charles's law|measured at the temperature]] of {{convert|15|°C}} at atmospheric pressure. According to the Russian standard, the gas volume is measured at {{convert|20|°C}}. That means that 1 billion [[Cubic metre|cubic metre]]s of natural gas by the International Energy Agency standard is equivalent to 1.017 billion cubic metres of natural gas by the Russian standard.<ref name=weo2011/>

==Energy based definitions==
Some other organizations use energy equivalent-based standards. [[Company:BP|BP]] uses a standard which is equivalent to {{convert|36|PJ}} per billion cubic metres.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/energy-economics/statistical-review/bp-stats-review-2021-full-report.pdf |title=Statistical Review of World Energy |date=2021 |publisher=[[Company:BP|BP]] |edition=70th}}</ref> Cedigaz uses a standard which is equivalent to {{convert|40|PJ}} per billion cubic metres.<ref name=weo2011/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Natural gas]]
[[Category:Units of volume]]
[[Category:Units of energy]]
[[Category:Non-SI metric units]]

{{Sourceattribution|Billion cubic metres of natural gas}}