Book excerpt: Natural gas is playing an increasing role in meeting world energy demands because of its abundance, versatility, and its clean burning nature. As a result, lots of new gas exploration, field development and production activities are under way, especially in places where natural gas until recently was labeled as "stranded. Because a significant portion of natural gas reserves worldwide are located across bodies of water, gas transportation in the form of LNG or CNG becomes an issue as well. Finally natural gas is viewed in comparison to the recently touted alternatives. Therefore, there is a need to have a book covering all the unique aspects and challenges related to natural gas from the upstream to midstream and downstream. All these new issues have not been addressed in depth in any existing book. To bridge the gap, Xiuli Wang and Michael Economides have written a new book called Advanced Natural Gas Engineering. This book will serve as a reference for all engineers and professionals in the energy business. It can also be a textbook for students in petroleum and chemical engineering curricula and in training departments for a large group of companies.