Comment by woodpanel

> if there's a strategic need

Nope. A defining mechanism in energy markets is the cost to extract it. There's a reason Saudi Arabia dominates oil, if you can extract it with a shovel. And directly counter to your point, there's a reason, say, Germany can't just kick start a shell gas/oil industry even if it does have the deposits underneath.

> harder time fixing prices

Eh, it's not like the CCP didn't do heavy handed market interventions before, right? I mean some would even argue "fixing prices" is already embedded with the ruling party's name.

> you also can't just close the pipes and starve everybody,

What is this even suppose to mean? Of course you can. That is the whole point of having geopolitical leverage.