The first cargo of U.S. liquefied natural gas last week reached its destination in Poland. The country’s Prime Minister called this “a historical moment,” that brought the Central European country a step closer to breaking its energy dependence on Russian gas. At the same time, the Netherlands also received its first LNG delivery from Cheniere Energy, the only U.S. exporter so far. The U.S. gas industry has been quick to take advantage of growing LNG demand and abundant shale gas output to join the global LNG trade. Europe is a natural focus, not just because of stable demand, but because of the European Union’s energetic drive to diversify its sources of energy away from Russia. Gazprom holds a third of the EU gas market, which the EU sees as a dominant position. This is especially true for Poland, which has historical reasons to want to be as independent as […]