I find it ironic that everyone and his dog says "it is easy to see [Putin's] motives" but saying similar things about US motives will get you banned from social media and called a "conspiracy theorist."

I definitely think there is THE POSSIBILITY that the gas found (also off the coast of Crimea) was a factor. Gas was also found in the west of Ukraine (IIRC) which would signficantly weaken your conspiracy theory.

The fact is, no one except Putin knows what his plans are. We have Putin's words which would be foolish to take at face value. Maybe someday we will learn more what Russia's real goals and expectations were with this invasion, but right now noone outside of Putin's head "knows."