I think in the US, cheap nat gas is a bigger problem for coal than the Baraqqis.
I talked to an exec of a company that makes fracking equipment, and he said fracking is just on the verge of going bigtime worldwide. Not Western Europe, because of the environazis, but darn near everywhere else. Nat gas and coal are going to be very affordable for a long time.
The Russians have a shale formation that is eighty times the size of the Bakken Play. It’s in Western Siberia and is called the Bazhenov Formation.