Methane as the main ingredient of natural gas and as an extractable fossil fuel-energy resource has limited if significant reserves.
Russia, Iran, and Qatar are topping the list with together 105.6 trillion cubic metres (3.73×10^15 cu ft), nearly half the world's proven reserves.
Methane from gas fields is an important factor in the world energy production and consumption.
Methane clathrate is a potential future energy source, if it doesn't escape to the atmosphere before extraction because of global warming.
[3] But even conventional reservoirs are leaking methane (together with other gases like carbon dioxide) especially downstream the processing line.