[en] The paper describes the size of the natural gas resource in the developing countries, gives a broad indication of its costs, and outlines its main environmental benefits as an alternative fuel. It discusses the opportunities presented by new (and old) technology for using natural gas in an efficient way to reduce air pollution and relates that to recent developments in international concerns over the world's environment. The paper gives a perspective on the extent of flaring of natural gas in the petroleum industry and on the amount of emissions of the greenhouse gases of methane and carbon dioxide during production and use. It establishes a data source for many of the parameters necessary to derive both a country and a global perspective of the opportunities for natural gas