The Moscow Times: Why Russia Isn't Afraid of U.S. Gas Exports
During his recent speech in Brussels, U.S. President Barack Obama said the U.S. could soon become a major supplier of gas to Europe and allow countries that are currently "hostage" to gas imports from Russia to have an alternative supply source at a cheaper price.
We heard the same sentiment from the chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, during his March 26 address at a committee hearing on "The Geopolitical Potential of the U.S. Energy Boom." While Obama placed his comments in the context of energy supply security, Royce was much more explicit about the real objective of an energy dump into Europe.
"America's newly developing energy supplies could make a difference," he said. "They could sap Putin's strength, while bolstering Ukraine's and that of other European countries."