By Simon Watkins At the core of Russia's hydrocarbon-centric geopolitical strategies for the future are its huge Arctic oil and gas reserves. And while global tensions stay high in the aftermath of 2022's invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing Israel-Hamas War, the key emergency energy source remains liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG requires much less infrastructure to be delivered than oil or gas sent through pipelines, so it is generally cheaper overall for sellers to develop and to expand their market share. Given this, it is also quicker and cheaper to increase or decrease delivery amounts at very short notice, as and when buyers require. In short, after massive Russian oil and gas supplies were sanctioned following the 24 February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, LNG firmly became the world's key swing energy supply.