Natural gas, a vital energy source for homes, factories and power plants, is the world’s fastest-growing fossil fuel. Supplying it to the West, and increasingly to Asian powers like China and India, gives Russia hard cash and a seat at the geopolitical table. “Our main goal is to preserve our current markets, primarily Europe, and to gain a foothold in new ones, especially Asia,” said Alexey Teksler, Russia’s first deputy Minister of Energy in an interview at his Moscow office. A giant map of Russia’s gas connections to Europe and Asia covered one wall. Washington has been looking to curb Russia’s expansion, pressuring Berlin to halt construction of Nord Stream 2 , a major gas pipeline connecting Germany with Russia. The U.S. has used trade negotiations to squeeze promises from the European Union and Asian countries to buy more U.S. gas. But so far, only a handful of U.S. […]