FT: Shale gas boom to fuel US lead over Europe and Asia for decades

The shale gas boom will boost US manufacturing and jobs until at least 2035, the world’s most respected energy body predicted yesterday, reinforcing America’s economic edge over Asia and Europe for the next two decades.

The International Energy Agency said that shale would continue to fuel the American economy even after the US starts ramping up exports, despite fears that selling the cheap gas to overseas customers would erode the country’s competitive advantage.

Although the IEA expects the US to start exporting more of its gas in the next two decades, it said the high cost of shipping it overseas would mean that importers pay a higher price than domestic customers. MORE