With potential reserves off the Lebanese coast making the headlines almost on a daily basis, the people’s interest in all matters related to oil and gas has skyrocketed. Middle East Strategic Perspectives will be publishing a series of articles and presentations to introduce this rather new topic to the Lebanese. The first one will cover natural gas basics. We have asked Mr. Elie G. Atme, who has worked in the energy and petrochemical industries for about 20 years, to prepare a PowerPoint presentation explaining the basics of natural gas. The presentation will cover the uses and benefits, access to markets and natural gas liquids (NGLs), and will explain upstream, midstream and downstream activities.