Quote Originally Posted by Dayuhan View Post
Very true... and also very true that Germany doesn't have a single LNG terminal, so even if they did have a sudden impulse to replace Russian gas with imports from the US, the ME, or elsewhere, it would take years and billions before the impulse could be indulged without relying on terminals in Belgium and France

The point I was trying to make to Carl was that while the Europeans can reduce their reliance on Russian gas (with time, commitment, and considerable expenditure), the US has no magic lever it can throw and reduce that dependence.

Enjoy your snow... we just got back to the mountains after a bit of beach time
Dayuhan:

Not to put too fine a point on it, no kidding.

Russia gets it leverage over countries not contiguous to it from energy supply (and chutzpah). If those countries have alternatives, their leverage goes down. No kidding that building the infrastructure will take years. But the years do actually go by and if those countries want to do it, all they have to do is start. Perhaps recent events might make them want to more.

Russia could find other customers but that is where the shale gas technology comes into play. Because of that tech the overall world price of gas will come down, has to. And as it does there will be less money for Vlad to make mischief with. Besides if Russian did find customers in the east as you suggested, they may have to build infrastructure to get the gas there.

Oh I don't know. Looking at how much gas we have in the country and how great the price differential can be between here and Europe, I figure we may just supply them with quite a bit over the next decade or so once things get up and running. Take that Vlad, you corrupt killer!