Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin urged energy producers from the world’s biggest natural- gas exporter to “rise to the challenge� of a changing market as the U.S. increases output of shale gas. U.S. shale gas production may “seriously� restructure supply and demand in the global hydrocarbons market, Putin said today in an address to the Russian lower house of parliament. The U.S. overtook Russia as the biggest producer of gas in 2009 as it extracted fuel trapped in shale rocks. That has cut prices and led nations from China to Poland to explore for such resources, potentially cutting their reliance on Russian gas. OAO Gazprom (GAZP), Russia’s biggest gas producer, has played down the threat of U.S. competition and said the gas industry will benefit from the shale boom. The Moscow-based exporter is seeking to join a U.S. project to liquefy the fuel for shipment by tanker, Frederic Barnaud, LNG executive director at the company’s London marketing unit, said last month. The U.S. plans to be a net exporter of LNG from 2016, with initial sales of 1.1 billion cubic feet (31.1 million cubic meters) a day doubling after three years. Exports may begin in a decade, Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Medvedev said in February. To contact the reporter on this story: Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow at iarkhipov@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Kennedy at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

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