OZY: How the Newest U.S. Export May Leave Russia With Excess Gas

Vladimir Putin has been having an iffy year. His not-so-secret military adventure in Ukraine has gotten bogged down in an ugly stalemate. Thanks to Western sanctions and falling oil prices, the Russian economy is tanking. And now there’s a new conundrum for the shirtless wonder to tackle — one that’s trapped in subterranean rock formations along the Eastern U.S.

What’s trapped there is a bunch of natural gas, which, thanks to fracking, has created an unprecedented boom in America’s gas supplies. Now some of the excess may for the first time be heading to Europe, where Russia has been a dominant supplier. (Insert GIF of Putin cursing, “Oh, frack.”) After all, some experts say cheap U.S. supplies could undercut Russian gas in price by as much as 40 percent, hitting Russia’s treasury while also beefing up Europe’s backbone should Russia ever threaten to cut off its gas.

Read the full article HERE.