Russian gas giant, Gazprom May Make U.S. Acquisition to Gain Shale-Gas Expertise .

Gazprom is the world's largest producer and supplier of natural gas. It makes one wonder what company they are looking at acquiring.

"Moscow-based Gazprom, which opened its U.S. trading unit this year, plans by 2018 to ship to North America as much as 90 percent of the 4 billion cubic feet of liquefied natural gas a day it expects to export from an Arctic project called Shtokman. After building up its Houston-based trading business in the U.S., Gazprom could benefit from buying gas-producing properties in the world’s largest market for the fuel, Hattenberger said."

And they do have the money to do it. About $11.5 billion in cash, depending on the value of the dollar.

It would be a terrible irony if we continued the imported oil levels from the middle east and added LNG from Russia. At least they are our friends, right?