12 March 2026, Illinois: Nitrogen fertilizers remain the backbone of global agricultural productivity, and among them urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer in the world.

With a nitrogen content of about 46 percent, urea provides one of the most efficient ways to supply nitrogen to crops such as wheat, rice, maize, and many horticultural crops.

However, behind every tonne of urea lies a highly energy-intensive industrial process. The production of urea depends heavily on natural gas, which acts both as a chemical feedstock and as an energy source. In countries where domestic gas production is limited, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) becomes essential to sustain fertilizer manufacturing. This connection between natural gas and fertilizers means that global energy markets directly influence fertilizer availability, production costs, and ultimately food security.

Understanding why LNG is so important requires looking at how urea is produced and how natural gas is used at multiple stages of the process.

Urea production begins with the manufacture of ammonia, which is the fundamental building block of all nitrogen fertilizers. Ammonia is produced using hydrogen and nitrogen. While nitrogen is readily available from the air, hydrogen must be produced using an industrial process.

In modern fertilizer plants, hydrogen is primarily extracted from natural gas, which consists mainly of methane (CH₄).

The first stage of production involves steam methane reforming, where natural gas reacts with steam at very high temperatures, typically around 800-900°C.

This reaction produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The carbon monoxide is then converted into carbon dioxide through another reaction known as the water-gas shift reaction, which also generates additional hydrogen.

By the end of this stage, the plant has produced two critical components:

• Hydrogen, which will be used to produce ammonia
• Carbon dioxide, which will later be used to produce urea

This step demonstrates the unique role of natural gas. Unlike many other industrial fuels, natural gas does not simply provide heat; it also becomes part of the chemical structure of the fertilizer itself.

Once hydrogen is produced, it is combined with nitrogen extracted from air in the Haber-Bosch process, one of the most important industrial chemical processes ever developed.

In this stage, nitrogen and hydrogen react under extremely high pressure and temperature to form ammonia.

The reaction requires:

• Temperatures of around 450-500°C
• Pressures of 150-250 bar

The output is ammonia (NH₃), which serves as the base material for urea and several other nitrogen fertilizers.

Ammonia itself can be used as a fertilizer, but it is difficult to store and transport safely. Therefore, most ammonia is converted into urea, which is easier to handle and distribute globally.

The final stage of the process converts ammonia into urea using the carbon dioxide generated earlier in the plant.

First, ammonia and carbon dioxide react to form ammonium carbamate. This intermediate compound then decomposes into urea and water.

After purification and processing, the urea is converted into granules or prills, which are the solid forms commonly sold to farmers.

Because the plant generates both ammonia and carbon dioxide internally, modern urea plants operate as integrated chemical systems, where every component of the process is interconnected.

Natural gas has become the dominant feedstock for ammonia and urea production worldwide because it offers several advantages compared to other alternatives.

First, methane contains a high hydrogen content, making it efficient for hydrogen extraction. Second, natural gas burns relatively cleanly and allows for more efficient heat management inside fertilizer plants. Third, it enables integrated production systems that can recycle carbon dioxide within the plant.

As a result, natural gas now accounts for nearly 70 percent of global ammonia production feedstock.

In a typical ammonia plant, natural gas serves two main functions.

Approximately 70-80 percent of the gas is used as feedstock, meaning it becomes part of the chemical reaction that produces hydrogen. The remaining 20-30 percent is used as fuel to power the high-temperature reactions required for ammonia synthesis.

This dual role makes natural gas indispensable in fertilizer manufacturing.

Ammonia and urea production are among the most energy-intensive processes in the chemical industry.

On average, producing one tonne of ammonia requires roughly 28-33 million British thermal units (MMBtu) of natural gas. Since urea production depends on ammonia, the availability and price of natural gas directly determine fertilizer production costs.

For this reason, natural gas often accounts for 60-80 percent of the total cost of producing ammonia and urea.

This is why fertilizer plants are typically located in regions with abundant and inexpensive natural gas, such as the Middle East, the United States, and parts of Russia.

Many fertilizer-producing countries do not have sufficient domestic natural gas supplies. In such cases, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plays a critical role.

LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to -162°C, converting it into a liquid form. This reduces its volume by about 600 times, allowing it to be transported by specialized ships across oceans.

Once the LNG arrives at import terminals, it is regasified and transported through pipelines to industrial users, including fertilizer plants.

Countries such as India, Japan, South Korea, and several European nations depend heavily on LNG imports to support fertilizer production and industrial energy needs.

Because natural gas represents the largest cost component in fertilizer manufacturing, fluctuations in LNG prices can significantly influence fertilizer markets.

When natural gas prices are low, fertilizer plants can operate at lower production costs. This typically leads to: