In the long run Japan will also replace its shortfall of nuclear power with larger imports of gas, boosting the fortunes of countries like Brunei and Qatar.

ECONOMIST: The world economy

We are boosting natural gas production.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama��s Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister Harper of Canada | The White House

His plan, by boosting markets for natural gas, would presumably drive up gas prices and goose investments he holds, like shares in the natural gas transportation company Clean Energy Fuels.

FORBES: T. Boone Pickens' War

But while geologists believe the rich Texas gas fields extend across the border, Mexico's state-owned oil monopoly, Pemex, has focused on boosting oil exports and hasn't proved effective at finding natural gas.

FORBES: The Gas Trap

Mexico used to talk about exporting gas to the U.S. But though geologists believe that the rich Texas gas fields extend across the border, Mexico's state-owned oil monopoly, Pemex, has focused on boosting oil exports and hasn't been effective at finding natural gas.

FORBES: The gas trap