The reason is shale gas a new and abundant source of natural gas, trapped in rock formations. Oil companies have known about it for decades but always dismissed it because it was too expensive and difficult to extract. In the past few years new technologies that pump water underground to fracture the rock and free the gas have been perfected. The breakthrough has opened a new frontier for the energy industry and turned long-held assumptions about the worlds dwindling supplies on their head. Suddenly, America is awash with gas. Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, said it had created a a revolution in the gas fields of North America.
Putin
Shale gas blasts open world energy market
This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website,
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are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Russia invites Shell back to Sakhalin as finances plummet
In a surprise move, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin invited Royal Dutch Shell to help develop two new oil and gas fields on Sakhalin Island, just three years after the government forced the company to cede majority control in the Sakhalin 2 project to state-controlled group Gazprom.
Russia to Cooperate With Shell on Sakhalin 3 and 4
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- Russia is prepared to cooperate with Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europes largest oil producer, on oil and gas projects in the Russian Far East known as Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.
Putin invites Shell to join Sakhalin 3, 4 projects
MOSCOW, June 27 (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has invited Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) to participate in Sakhalin-3 and Sakhalin-4 natural gas projects at a meeting with Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer on Saturday.
PM Putin to discuss Shell’s Russia expansion with CEO
REUTERS
Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:03am ED
MOSCOW, June 26 (Reuters) – Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will meet Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDSa.L) CEO Jeroen van der Veer on Saturday to discuss possibilities for the company’s expansion in Russia, Putin’s spokesman said on Friday.
“They will talk through the perspectives of the company’s activity’s expansion in the Russian Federation,” Dmitry Peskov said. A Shell spokeswoman confirmed that the meeting would take place but declined to comment on its agenda.
Gazprom sways as Russia plays hardball
Gazprom paid $13 billion to buy Sibneft oil company from billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2005, and a year later forced Shell to cede its controlling stake in the Sakhalin II project in Russia's Far East for $7.5 billion.
Putin has given us a wake-up call: we’re vulnerable to blackmail
Gazprom under Mr Putin is about control. Gazprom has been moving downstream in Europe, buying up hunks of gas infrastructure and developing joint ventures with European companies all the way from the well to the end consumers. It is moving in on Europe's energy assets unobstructed despite the strict limits - and foul play - that dog foreign investors in Russian oil and gas fields, where Royal Dutch Shell and BP have got badly burnt.
Gazprom, Once Mighty, Is Reeling
Investors are now fleeing Gazprom stock...
Russia look to control world’s gas prices
The Russian national anthem blared over the loudspeakers as dozens of oilmen and officials braved the freezing cold to watch the tanker come in, celebrating the launch of year-round oil production from Sakhalin-2, the largest oil and gas project in the world.
Oil’s Crash Stirs Unrest in Russia as Slump Hits Home
Public panic is one of the Kremlin's greatest fears.
Mismanagement of Russian Economy Could Lead to Social Unrest
Foreign investors were given some serious lessons, when the state took over the Shell-led Sakhalin-2 project...
From the Kremlin to Caracas, how oil collapse changes everything
As the price of a barrel falls to below $50 for the first time in years - to a third of its value just a few months ago - petrol will be cheaper but the shockwaves mean crisis for oil-producing nations and further instability for a battered global economy
A Run on Russia
Investors woke up to the systemic risk to property rights and the lack of any rule of law in Russia. They did so belatedly, we'd add, considering the attempted or successful expropriation of Yukos, BP and Shell assets and the blatant use of state resources to menace private business.
Russia threatens to seize swathe of Arctic
President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia should unilaterally claim part of the Arctic, stepping up the race for the disputed energy-rich region.
Beware the bear trap
In the oil sector, all the major companies have been drawn into the Kremlin's new great game. Shell has lost majority ownership of its vast Sakhalin project; Total has been reduced to the status of a services company; BP seems on the verge of having 25% of its reserves expropriated by Russian oligarchs.
Gazprom, the Russian gas company, is six times bigger than Royal Dutch Shell
Long-term, the price of oil will stay over $100 a barrel, he said, because of Vladimir Putin. The Russian prime minister understands better than anyone the connection between energy and political power.
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