Swiss petrochemicals giant Ineos Group Holdings SA plans to accept the first American shipment of a type of shale gas to Europe on Wednesday—a milestone that marks the opening up of a new market for American energy producers trying to sell a glut of the fuel . The ship is carrying a type of natural-gas liquid known as ethane that was extracted from the Marcellus Shale in western Pennsylvania, where companies such as Range Resources Corp. RRC -3.00 % and Consol Energy Inc. CNX -0.60 % have been looking to diversify the markets for their ethane because of pipeline and storage limitations. The shipment is the first seaborne export of ethane to Europe from the U.S., Ineos said, another sign of how the North American shale boom has transformed the global energy map. The recent ramp-up in U.S. shale oil production has challenged Saudi Arabia’s sway over international oil […]