(Bloomberg) -- As the Iran war strangles natural gas supplies, countries across Asia and Africa are rationing fuel and enduring blackouts. In Europe, the conflict is raising the risk of an energy crunch this winter. Thousands of miles away, in the heart of US shale country, gas is so plentiful that producers have to pay buyers to take it off their hands. Drillers in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico have helped make the US the world’s largest oil producer.