an effective monopoly over Russia's network of pipelines to Europe, supplying 40 percent of Europe's gas.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel between a rock and hard place: Trump (L) and Putin (R)

Gazprom has been forced to lower its prices in recent years to protect its market share in the face of moves by EU member states to buy more gas from Qatar and other producers.

The simultaneous boom in US, mainly shale, gas has also created a new source of cheap supply that is changing energy consumption habits — and geopolitics — globally.

The US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell told Bild that Chancellor Angela Merkel had assured US President Donald Trump that Germany wanted to purchase its LNG.

Trump in July accused Berlin of being a "captive" of Russia due to itsfaces suspicion in Baltics

With its last nuclear plant shutting down in 2023, coal in terminal decline and the phasing out of Dutch gas, Germany faces a medium-term challenge of how to secure stable energy sources and manage the solar and wind plants.

One of the options has been an extension to the Nord Stream pipeline. Germany is the biggest client of Gazprom and the pipeline would double Russian gas exports. But the project faces opposition from the US, Poland and Lithuania and some in Germany.

By the end of the decade the US is expected to have five major LNG export projects operational, becoming the third largest LNG exporter after Qatar and Australia.

Watch video 00:21 Trump slams Germany over pipeline at NATO

jbh/tr (Reuters)