Forbes: Can Shale Save Europe?
Regardless of how Russia’s foray into Ukraine finally works out, these last few weeks have offered a stark reminder of Europe’s desperate need to diversify its energy options. Although Russia has stopped short of halting gas deliveries to Ukraine or the rest of Europe, the threat remains real and worthy of concern.
Russia currently supplies about a quarter of the continent’s natural gas demand, with a third of that flowing through Ukrainian transmission lines.
With so much at stake, Europe’s leaders are looking just about everywhere for viable alternatives. Sure, there’s the promise of U.S. gas easing European dependence on an increasingly iffy relationship with Russia, but as The New York Times noted on the 7th of April, in “the short term, the United States can offer little hope for Europeans eager to diversify their gas sources as Russia occupies Crimea and may threaten other parts of eastern Ukraine.”