Just a decade ago, experts thought that we had almost run out of natural gas. Now, it is cheap and abundant - the result of an innovation that produces gas from shale. In the 1970s, price regulations on gas meant that no such exploration could have taken place. There was no incentive for companies to discover new means by which to obtain it. President Reagan deregulated the industry, leading to a surge in production. The opening of the market itself helped, but, more importantly, it allowed the clinching revelation in Texas. Combining “Slick Water” hydraulic fracturing with the new ability to drill around corners was the key. It meant that drills could work horizontally between seams of rock for miles on end, making tight shales, where most hydrocarbons are are stored, into vast sources of gas and oil.