Medvedev: ‘US using cheap gas to prop up economy’

The US government is keeping domestic gas prices lower than the rest of the world in a bid to stimulate its economy, Gazprom’s deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev claimed in a keynote address

Earlier this year, US gas prices fell to 10-year lows of under $2.50 per million British thermal units (Btu) after a huge ramp-up in the country’s shale-gas production depressed prices. Asian prices, meanwhile, have climbed to around $18/million Btu, driven by Japanese demand after it shut its last nuclear reactor on 5 May. European prices are around $9/million Btu. “Prices in East Asia are significantly higher than the European level, not to mention American prices, which are actually behind a protective barrier of government policies aimed at using natural gas as a means to restart the American economy,” Medvedev said.  He added that it was the US policy to become self sufficient in hydroc