A boom in unconventional natural gas over the next 20 years could see the United States and others benefit from cheaper energy while the importance of the Middle East declines, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Tuesday. The U.S. could be exporting 35 billion cubic metres by 2020, around 20 percent of Russia's current export levels, according to the report. The influx of cheap U.S. gas would drive competition on global gas markets and cut gas prices by 30% by 2020. --Henning Gloystein and Oleg Vukmanovic, Reuters, 29 May 2012