The aim of hazardous area classification around equipment handling or storing of flammable fluids is to avoid the ignition of those releases that may occur from time to time in the operation of these equipment. There is a point source approach for the classification of hazardous areas which can estimate hazard radius by using hole size and release pressure. Methane-rich natural gas is widely used or produced in the process industries. Till date, there exist no reference that represents hazard radii for the wide range of possible hole sizes and release pressures of this fluid. The aim of the present study was to propose a predictive model for estimation of hazard radii due to releases of typical methane-rich natural gas based on hole size and release pressure. In this study, a complete database of hazard radii due to a broad range of hole sizes and release pressures was provided using available discharge and dispersion models. A regression-based model for estimation of hazard radii was developed based on the provided database. Performance investigation of the proposed model and a case study showed that the results are reliable with an acceptable standard error. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.