Soundbite summaries of the energy news you need to know.
- CERAWeek in review -
A special publication for Members of American Energy Society
The premier energy event of the year set an attendance record, demonstrating that people everywhere care deeply about the sector and came to the premier conference for information, guidance, and new insights. In that regard, the event was both instructive and off-point for essentially the same reason: interest in molecules
(hydrocarbons) and electrons (electricity) have converged, and decarbonization is a unifying force.
The In-Crowd
Although oil and gas are unwavering in their commitments, the divisions that defined CERAWeek in the past are blurry. Fossil
didn't necessarily control the Executive side, and renewables did not dominate the Agora side. Attendees of either heard essentially the same themes:
1. Energy Transition (all aboard!)
2. Oil ain't goin' nowhere ("phaseout is a fantasy," Aramco CEO Amin Hassan
Nasser) 3. Hydrogen (too big to fail?) 4. CCUS (popular but an uncertain path) 5. AI (the answer to everything) 6. Mobility/transportation (often discussed, but lacked buzz)
Wallflowers
The convergence of fossil and renewables that defined CERAWeek this year was also the reason for its disconnect. Some energy topics were barely discussed. For example, of
more than 1,400 speakers there were just 3 plenary sessions about coal and 3 more about nuclear, and it is not clear if or when solar was addressed.
It's always hard to prove a negative but perhaps these topics got very little attention because they compete with natural gas. Then again, geothermal, wave, and wind
power (especially OSW) are also competitors, and these topics got a lot of attention in both the Executive and Agora venues. Or, maybe the conference is trying to appeal to tech enthusiasts by pushing "cool" tech ideas like hydrogen and AI. Perhaps four dozen protestors in the park across the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center in downtown Houston who were chanting "keep it in the ground" was more than enough reason for the organizers to
avoid controversy and keep conversations about coal, nuclear, and solar at a minimum.
Whatever the reason, it was odd that the most important energy event of the year paid very little attention to three sources of power that generate about 1/3rd of total electricity in the United States and almost 40% worldwide.
Deafening Silence
What else didn't get its due at CERAWeek? The downstream, especially energy communities. The 45 and 48 alphabet soup production and investment tax credits and 6417 partner direct-pay are available right now through current community benefit programs. What company wouldn't want to learn about the 20-point advantage that comes by working with disadvantaged communities? The upstream dominated CERAWeek again,
while the midstream and energy communities farther downstream didn't get a lot of attention.
The Future
During exactly the same week, in Tulsa, the Tribal Energy Equity Summit hosted leaders from both tribal and federal governments and tribe-supporting organizations to discuss energy sovereignty for energy communities that are not benefiting from the energy transition. Attendees at the Tribal Energy Equity Summit are passionate. They are determined. And they want to
shape an energy transition that benefits rather than ignores their interests.
It's the conference organizers' prerogative to emphasize the upstream — its the safe marketing play and allows for very high ticket prices — but if CERAWeek wants to remain the litmus test for the sector, the
conference might do well to actively recruit andinclude downstream energy communities. Change is coming. Future CERAWeeks will either reflect it or run the risk of ceding their authority to another event.
Overheard in the halls at
CERAWeek
"Global warming has not had any discernable effect on human welfare." - [redacted], a faculty member of (think tank) at (prestigious US university)
"We are a technology company." - multiple executives of oil and gas companies
"Heathrow airport in London uses more energy than the entire country of Sierra Leone." - Jeff Currie, ex-Goldman Sachs superstar oil analyst famous for forecasting
commodity supercycles
Exxon and Chevron while bickering over Guyana were also busy at CERAWeek trying to woo journalists, with differing levels of success. Chevron's media mixer was held in a dark, stuffy upstairs room of a music venue, served beer and wine only, and was protested by a group holding placards reading "Chevron commits genocide." Exxon's
mixer was better received. Hosted in a roomy semi-outdoors bar the liquor was flowing and journalists snagged free ExxonMobil racing team beer koozies.
At the opening of CERAWeek, conference cofounder Dan Yergin said that he has grown tired of talking about the energy transition.
- Gratitude -
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