Discovering Changes in the Global Liquefied Natural Gas Marine Supply Network During the Russian-Ukrainian Crisis with Big Data

The recent Russian-Ukrainian crisis has had a substantial impact on the global natural gas supply landscape and brought major challenges to liquified natural gas (LNG) supply chain safety in many countries. However, academic research in this field remains scarce. This study aims to analyze the global LNG marine supply network changes during the recent Russian-Ukrainian crisis. Big data analytics are applied to the global vessel trajectory information recorded by automatic identification system (AIS). The weighted degree index indicates that global LNG marine supply is still primarily led by a few exporting countries, and the Middle East Port of Ras Laffan now occupies the central position. In 2022, the betweenness centrality and other indicators of the LNG shipping network showed a high middle and low end, indicating that the network has a certain degree of resilience. After the Russian-Ukrainian crisis happened, LNG exports from Qatar, the United States, and Russia increased. Resource flows have reshaped the competitive standing of countries. The European LNG market witnessed a significant intensification in the export competition between Russia and the United States. Despite the ongoing crisis, Russia’s LNG export competitiveness remained resilient and displayed no indications of weakening. The results show new evidence for the changes in global natural resources marine supply influenced by the geopolitical events among countries. This has important implications for policymaking of LNG supply safety to the countries that rely heavily on imports.