Big Digital Energy

Adam Crum brings some serious Alaska energy, literally and figuratively, as he sits down with Chuck to talk about where the state’s headed and how he thinks it can get there. He opens up about everything from playing football at Northwestern to steering Alaska through COVID, all the way to why he thinks the state’s future depends on smarter energy development, fixing outdated policies like the Jon...

Chuck and Mark crank up the camp as they riff on the Landman season two premiere, bouncing from the show’s oil-patch chaos to the real-world energy circus. They torch the DOE Loan Programs Office’s messy reputation while breaking down its latest billion-dollar moves, like the $1B revival of Three Mile Island for Microsoft and AEP’s $1.6B transmission upgrade, along with its surprisingly strong 3.3...

COP30’s giving big “save the trees… after we bulldoze them” energy, and Kirk and Mark are all over it. They roast the idea of hosting a climate conference in the Amazon while clearing land for roads, hotels, and runways, right as private jets zip overhead and new drilling permits get stamped. It’s peak irony, wrapped in green branding. They unpack the politics, the money, the energy realities no o...

California’s energy situation is getting messy, and the story behind it isn’t what most people think. Mark sits down with Mike Umbro, founder of Californians for Energy & Science, to break down how policy decisions, refinery shutdowns, and halted oil production are reshaping the state’s entire energy mix. They dig into why geothermal isn’t the quick fix it’s made out to be, how rising energy c...

Bill Gates’ latest climate pivot is stirring things up, and the guys are all over it. Kirk, Chuck, and Mark break down why Gates is stepping away from the emissions-only mindset and putting people back at the center of the climate conversation, think healthcare, infrastructure, and everyday quality of life. From the ripple effects across the energy world to Big Tech’s growing influence, they don’t...

California’s energy mess is heating up, and Kirk and Mark aren’t holding back. They’re calling out what happens when regulators, like the California Coastal Commission, start flexing too hard, leaving companies like Sable Offshore tangled in lawsuits over something as basic as fixing old oil platforms near Santa Barbara. Between the fallout from the 2015 pipeline spill, shrinking refining capacity...

Oil at $500? Yeah, not happening, at least not anytime soon. Kirk, Chuck, and Mark unpack the hype around that wild prediction and explain what’s actually driving oil markets right now. Between OPEC’s chess moves, shifting U.S. production, and global demand swings, there’s plenty to keep traders guessing. They also get into the ripple effects of renewables, how countries are juggling sustainabilit...

Real-time frac data isn’t some future concept, it’s here, and it’s changing the way completions get done. Chuck Yates sat down with folks from ProFrac and Seismos to break down how AI, automation, and acoustic sensing are turning traditional fracking on its head. Matt Wilks and Panos Adamopoulos talk about ProPilot 2.0 and how closed-loop fracturing is giving operators instant feedback to fine-tun...

Trump’s Climate Week speech was anything but subtle, and the Big Digital Energy crew had plenty to say about it. Kirk, Chuck, and Mark break down his unapologetic shots at global green agendas, the messy reality of rushing energy transitions, and what it all means for regular people facing rising energy costs. They don’t shy away from calling out China and India’s emissions role, questioning high-...

Musk is once again moving faster than the rulebook can keep up. The guys dig into his latest play, Colossus AI data centers, and how he’s flipping old infrastructure into giga-scale operations at a pace that makes regulators look like they’re standing still. From Tennessee to Mississippi, it’s a masterclass in sidestepping red tape while pushing the future of energy and tech forward. Kirk, Chuck,...

The shooting of Charlie Kirk has shaken the political and cultural world, raising hard questions about free speech, safety, and what it means to debate ideas in a time this divided. We talk about Kirk’s legacy, whether you agreed with him or not, as someone who pushed for open dialogue and challenged people to treat opponents as humans instead of enemies. From the ripple effects across podcasting...

Norway’s energy playbook has basically turned the country into Europe’s oversized extension cord, but the trade-offs are starting to sting at home. Kirk, Chuck, and Mark get into how Norway’s hydro power and subsea cables made it a powerhouse exporter while leaving its own citizens facing higher electricity bills. They call out how exports are essentially propping up bad energy bets from countries...

Forget the old way of running frac jobs, this one’s all about what happens when real-time data meets smart analytics. NOV is pulling in live completions data and turning it into clear visuals, while Well Data Labs layers on AI-powered insights that let operators tweak things like friction reducers on the fly. Chuck sat down with Eric Zenero from Well Data Labs and Kayla Scherer from NOV to talk th...

Exxon’s latest play in Trinidad and Tobago is a big one, 2,700 square miles of offshore exploration rights that could reshape energy in the Western Hemisphere. Chuck and Mark break it all down: why this territory matters, how seismic programs are setting the stage for massive discoveries, and what it could mean geopolitically as deepwater exploration heats up. Along the way, they get into industry...

Orsted’s massive $9.5 billion rights offering has the wind power world buzzing and not in the way they’d like. Chuck and Mark unpack how the company got here, from ballooning costs and tangled supply chains to rising interest rates that make financing a nightmare. They look at why the Danish government is stepping in with a taxpayer-backed bailout, what it means for big-ticket projects like Sunris...

BP just hit what might be their biggest oil discovery in a decade, and it’s turning heads. We’re talking about a massive hydrocarbon column in Brazil’s Santos Basin, promising structure, but also some tricky CO2 and infrastructure questions that could slow things down. We unpack what this means for BP’s game plan going forward, especially as they try to thread the needle between growth and transit...

Dead whales, wind farms, and Nantucket drama, what's really happening off the South Shore? From plummeting property values to environmental consequences like fiberglass debris and whale deaths, we break down the chaos surrounding the controversial wind farms. Dive into the heated debates between local residents, the Nantucket select board, and Vineyard Wind, the company behind this turbulent proje...

California’s losing refineries, the East Coast grid is running tight, and everyone’s asking, can distributed power actually save the day? In this episode, I break down what’s shaking up the U.S. energy scene, from gasoline price shocks and a shrinking shale rig count to the strain on PJM’s capacity market. We also take a look at how China’s massive hydro play fits into the global picture, and wher...

Everyone’s talking about AI like it’s all GPUs and algorithms, but the real story? It’s energy. In this video, we break down how the U.S. is quietly turning its energy dominance into an AI advantage. We’re talking big moves from Pennsylvania to Texas, natural gas, nuclear, and renewables coming together to fuel the AI arms race. We get into the details on the Homer City Giga Campus, why EQT and Ex...

The Texas floods hit hard, and this episode gets real about what that looked like on the ground. We talk about the heartbreaking moments, the lives forever changed, and the absolute guts shown by folks who stepped up when it mattered most, like camp counselors risking it all to save kids. It’s a raw and personal look at what those camps along the Guadalupe mean to so many of us, and how this commu...

The Big Beautiful Energy Bill just passed and let’s just say it’s not all sunshine and wind turbines. We’re unpacking what’s really going on here: why some renewables are suddenly less loved, how oil and gas somehow walked away smiling, and what Alaska had to do with any of it. There’s tax talk (don’t worry, we make it make sense), political chess moves, and a look at what this means for companies...

The Israel-Iran conflict is shaking up the global energy landscape, and the effects are being felt from crude oil prices to gas supplies. Tensions are rising, with everything from potential strikes on nuclear sites to the threat of oilfield infrastructure being caught in the crossfire. We’re talking about the risks to key spots like the Strait of Hormuz, how OPEC is reacting to the situation, and...

Things are heating up in the world of Trump vs. Musk, as the two giants clash over EV incentives and oil and gas subsidies, do they even exist? Over in Texas, SB-6 is set to give ERCOT the power to pull the plug on massive data centers, cutting down on residential blackouts and shifting some grid responsibility onto developers. But what does that mean for backup power economics? And then there’s n...

EOG just made a bold move in the UAE, locking down a massive 900,000-acre exploration deal that could change the energy game. We're breaking down how this huge partnership is shaking things up, from US energy diplomacy to Middle East investments, and what it means for the future of unconventional oil and gas. We’re talking tech transfer in the UAE, the shifting dynamics of oil prices, and how AI,...

We're talking tech and how it's totally shaking up the oil and gas world. From AI to game-changing software, and with moves from giants like Shell, BP, and ExxonMobil, we break down the trends and challenges that are reshaping the energy game. Digital Wildcatters is leading the charge on oilfield innovations, while Shell and BP’s strategies are giving us a glimpse into what’s next for the industry...