The official shale gas story goes something like this: recent technological breakthroughs by US energy companies have made it possible to tap an abundant but previously inaccessible source of clean, environmentally friendly natural gas. This has enabled the US to become the world leader in natural gas production, overtaking Russia, and getting ready to end of Russia’s gas monopoly in Europe.
If this were the case, then we should expect the Kremlin, along with Gazprom, to be quaking in their boots. But are they?
