Washington Post: U.S. gas exports could limit Putin’s influence

ONE THING THAT this year’s presidential candidates both get right is that the United States’ plentiful reserve of unconventional natural gas is an exceptional national asset, not only revolutionizing the energy business at home but also benefiting America and its allies abroad.

Over the past decade, new drilling methods have made oceans of fuel once trapped in subterranean rock formations easily accessible. The result is that the United States, which used to worry about importing huge quantities of natural gas, is now producing loads of its own, so much that domestic prices have tumbled and energy companies are asking for permission to liquefy and export some of the country’s output.  MORE