Although international oil companies such as ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP were not pioneers in the development of United States gas shales they are now working to acquire positions in Europe. More in a Financial Times article.

How long will the new natural gas shale plays be producing gas? 20 years? 40? More? This topic was discussed at IHS CERA conference last week in Houston. Some believe that they will be producing gas for a long time.

A story at AOL News reports on company building a natural gas pipeline on the floor of the Baltic Sea. They discovered a dozen sunken ships that are thought to be between 300 and 400 years old.

Increasing production of natural gas from shales around the world is changing the dynamics of LNG markets and has put pressure on Gazprom, the European gas giant. More in an article on the Business Insider website.

An article in the Vancouver Sun reports that most major oil companies have a strong interest in European shale gas plays. They are getting a slow start because there are currently very few rigs in Europe.

An article on The Vancouver Sun website explains how most of the major oil companies are looking for shale gas in Europe. A big problem is that there are currently very few rigs there.

In addition to the large amount of natural gas being produced from shale several huge LNG projects expected to ship their first gas in 2014 and 2016. More in an article on the Gerson Lehrman Group website.

An article on the MSNBC.com website reviews some of the investments that Asian countries are making in natural gas shales – both in the United States and in Asia.

Russia has an estimated 87 trillion cubic meters of coal-bed methane distributed through coal seams in many parts of the country. Gasprom has a plan to produce 1.5 billion cubic meters of methane in 2012 from coal seams in Siberia. Gasprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the Russian government holds a controlling interest in the company. More in an article in The Moscow Times.

An executive of Gazprom, the largest producer of natural gas in the world, says it is “unimaginable” that Europe will allow the development of its shale gas resources because of concerns with water supply contamination. More in an article in The Telegraph.

An article on the Reuters website quotes Aubrey McClendon making an argument that developing shale plays outside of the United States will be difficult.

Just a few years ago Russia invested heavily in the Shtokman gas field in the Barents Sea with the intent of exporting that gas as LNG to the United States. Now the US has several giant shale gas fields and the Russians have all of that Shtokman gas plus opportunities to develop their own shales. More at the United Press International website.

In China, the Ministry of Land and Resources hopes to raise the country’s annual shale gas production to 15-30 billion cubic meters by 2020. More in a SmartMoney.com article.

An article at MarketWatch reports that BP is in talks with Sinopec (China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation) with the hope of reaching an agreement for cooperative ventures in developing extensive natural gas shales in China.

Natural gas power plants are one solution to meet increasing energy demands in Israel. An article on the Rand.org website discusses Israel’s energy strategy.