A pipe dream

Almost everyone seems to agree that Russia isn’t about to form a gas cartel similar to Opec. Even the country’s Energy Minister calls the notion the «product of feverish thinking». Yet President Vladimir Putin still set a cat among the pigeons when he said on the eve of a tour of the Middle East, «it is an interesting idea, we’ll think about it». The pigeons haven’t settled down yet. One reason for the continuing unease is a fear that world gas markets might evolve in the same way oil markets h...