Royal Dutch Shell PLC tells it like it is.

After reading this:

WSJ: Center Stage in '06: Natural Gas, Iran, New Cancer Tests

Quote:

Jeroen van der Veer, chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, says natural gas now accounts for 40% of Shell's hydrocarbon output and is rising. "In a decade, we will be close to being 50-50," he says. "One day, the question will be whether we should be [called] an oil-and-gas company or a gas-and-oil company."

Gas use is expected to grow 50% faster than oil consumption in the next 25 years, says the International Energy Agency. Gas is expected to pass coal as the No. 2 energy source by 2020, accounting for nearly a quarter of the pie, with oil first at more than a third. One element favoring the use of gas is that it's clean burning, producing fewer so-called greenhouse gases.

I was amused to see that when I googled an article from Barron's last week, the number 1 hit was Royal Dutch Shell's web site where it has been posted. Read the article and you'll understand.

Barron's (via RDS PLC): Bullish and Fully Fueled.

By the way, the subject of that interview, Kurt Wulff, makes some of his research available on a delayed basis for free, and it is worth reading. Check out www.mcdep.com.