There is a difference between investing in natural gas and oil, although both involve drilling for these natural resources. Drilling for natural gas and oil can take years before the well is able to be of use and profits to start rolling in. Most people look at natural gas and oil investing as a long term investment.

Drilling will commence in an area that has been tested for natural gas and oil. Many wells will have oil while others will yield natural gas. Natural gas is considered to be a cleaner fuel and is very desirable as a form of energy. For this reason, there are many tax benefits associated with this type of drilling.

Many wells will yield both natural gas as well as oil. Both are valuable assets. If you enter into an investment venture that involves drilling for natural gas, you should be sure that the well will pay off even if it yields oil. It is very important to understand any contract that you sign when you embark on this type of venture.

There is not a lot of difference between natural gas exploration or oil exploration. Both involve drilling for viable wells. In both cases, you may end up with a dry well. A dry well is one that does not yield either gas or oil. Many companies that are drilling now are drilling into wells that were never fully explored. New technology has made drilling easier and tax incentives have also made drilling for oil or natural gas more feasible. The equipment and labor for drilling can be written off on taxes. This means that anyone who is involved in the process can write these costs off on their taxes.

Natural gas may offer you a quicker return on your investment than oil as it can be processed quicker and thus used. Oil takes longer to be refined. But both will net you a long term profit on your investment if the well is viable. This can be stretched out over the years or even during the lifetime of the well.

Both natural gas exploration as well as oil drilling investing offer tax incentives in case you come up with a dry well. You can write off as much as 65 percent of the loss on your income tax. Many people invest in such endeavors for a loss so that they can lower their tax bracket and end up saving money.

Both natural gas and oil investing has risks. There is no such thing as a sure thing when it comes to this type of investing and you should be wary of anyone who tells you that you cannot lose. But both natural gas exploration and oil exploration, when successful, can give you enormous returns on your money.