EnergyCents

The future of global oil and gas exploration has been widely discussed recently, with the number of discoveries year on year for the past decade gradually declining. But with growing energy demands in emerging markets, a call to end 'energy poverty' and efforts to ensure energy security, exploration to boost companies' portfolios remains ever important. On this week's episode, Hill Vaden and Sam H...

Brazil ranks among the world's top 10 oil producers due largely to success in deepwater exploration and production. Much of the country's oil production has high percentages of associated carbon dioxide and methane that are reinjected into producing reservoirs to improve recoveries and limit emissions. S&P Global Commodity Insights Brazilian Upstream Experts Chris Kennett and Susana Santos joins E...

Operating an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle traditionally accounts for about 75% of a car's full lifecycle emissions. That percentage breakdown changes with the adoption of battery electric vehicles (BEV), which have zero tailpipe emissions. S&P Global Mobility expert  Xi Wang  joins EnergyCents hosts  Hill Vaden  and  Sam Humphreys to discuss the lifecycle emissions of automobile supply...

Titans of industry have long embraced the concept that what gets measured gets managed. Reaching consensus on measurable items like benchmarks, milestones, and definitions of success can be some of the most challenging parts of any multi-stakeholder plan. S&P Global Commodity Insights' Simon Thorne joins EnergyCents hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the importance of carbon accounting...

Heat pump sales jumped 36% in the Netherlands in 2023, thanks to government incentives promoting the decarbonization of residential construction. S&P Commodity Insights experts Alexandre Mace and Francesco d'Aveck join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the rationale behind government planners' heat-pump promotion and consider what learnings the Dutch case study offers...

Direct Air Capture technology, or DAC, is garnering increased attention as project developers raise funds with ambitions of deployment at commercial scale.  S&P Commodity Insights' Experts Paola Perez Peña and James Gutman join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the potential role of DAC technology in decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and describe some of the business...

As electric vehicles increase their market share, so increases the transportation sector's reliance on metals supply and downstream smelting capacity.  How does this supply chain compare to that of traditional oil markets? S&P Commodity Insights' Experts Stephen Jew and Mark Ferguson, focused respectively on liquids and metals, join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to compare th...

Many governments are working to stimulate investments in clean hydrogen supply and/or demand, and trying to balance what can be competing priorities of support for climate and industrial lobbies. S&P Commodity Insights hydrogen and low-carbon fuels expert Brian Murphy joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the implications of recent hydrogen-directed policy in the Uni...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is most commonly associated with the Silicon Valley and tech-sector giants. However, the energy sector is actively investing in and pioneering its own applications of AI to projects and processes. Dan Bennett, S&P Global Commodity Insights' head of technology and data, and Judson Jacobs, CI's executive director of energy technology and innovation, join EnergyCents with...

Global LNG consumption is set to grow by about 2.5% per year from now until 2050.   This growth occurs as global gas demand, inclusive of LNG, stays more or less flat. Madeline Jowdy joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss LNG's continued global growth prospects and consider the geographies and projects within the value chain to watch most closely. Learn more about S&P...

Electricity consumption in the world's developing economies is generally less than about 2,500 kwh per capita, compared to about 10,000 kwh per capita in the more developed world. Consumption, as well as expectations of reliability, will increase as these economies grow. Silvia Macri and Allen Wang join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the competing priorities that in...

Power-hungry datacenters require access to reliable electricity to meet the increasingly digital needs of modern society.  As society processes more data, more datacenters are being built, and more electricity is needed. Dan Thompson and Adam Wilson join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the impact of datacenters on the US power market, and how grid operators are respo...

China drove global energy markets throughout the early 2000s thanks to demand growth from its large population and manufacturing industries. Many are watching to see if India will have a similar impact on energy markets in the coming years. Rashika Gupta and Karim Fawaz join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to compare China and India's energy-demand profiles and explain why we s...

The global refining sector is approaching the end of its Golden Age as motor-fuel demand wanes in the developed world and large new-build projects in Nigeria and Mexico threaten Atlantic Basin margins. Hedi Grati joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss a global refining industry in flux and how the sector will adapt to changes in demand, feedstocks, and competition. Le...

Americans love pick-up trucks, and the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) that make them rely on their relatively high profit margins to fuel earnings. Darragh Punch joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss North America's love affair with pick-up trucks and why electrifying them could be so important to mass EV adoption in the United States.   Learn more about S&P...

Singapore, which relies on natural gas to fire nearly all of its power generation, has plans to increase to about 30% the share of renewables in its electricity mix by 2035. The island city-state lacks available landmass for large-scale solar and wind installations and intends to rely on neighboring countries to generate renewable power and export it to Singapore via undersea cables.  Vince Heo an...

This week on EnergyCents,   emissions expert Deb Ryan joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to talk about the implications of emissions mitigation across the business landscape, from investment in decarbonization technology and what projects are on the horizon.   Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Geologic and political borders are not always the same. Can Guyana's success as an oil province extend to next-door Suriname?  Siddhartha Sen and Isaac Nuti join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss offshore exploration activity in Suriname, and consider which projects may have the highest likelihood of extending Guyana's commercial success.   Learn more about S&P Global...

Led most recently by Guyana, and Brazil before it, Latin America has been a remarkable success story for global oil exploration over the last 25 years. Flavio Fernandez and Jaka Hardiwinangun join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to review Latin American exploration activity in 2023, and highlight the region's high impact wells to watch in 2024.   Learn more about S&P Global Com...

As measured by discovered volumes, Africa finished one of its worst exploration years on record in 2023. However, two of the wells being drilled in December  – both in Namibia – came in successful in January 2024 and signal an auspicious start to the new year.  Justin Cochrane returns to EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to review African exploration activity in 2023, and highlig...

Sales of electric vehicles continued to rise in the United States in 2023, though the rate of adoption has been slower than many planners envisioned. Devin Lindsay joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the status of EV adoption in the US after a bumpy 2023, and flag trends to watch in 2024 as automakers transition their fleets away from internal combustion engines. ...

Led by the Americas, supply growth from non-OPEC countries fully met the growth in global oil demand in 2023. This balance, along with wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, U.S. elections in November, and changing shipping patterns weigh on the minds of oil strategists in 2024. Aaron Brady and Ha Nguyen join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to share their thoughts on the biggest...

At completion, Nigeria's Dangote Petroleum Refinery will process 650,000 barrels per day and be the largest single-train facility in the world.  The much-delayed refinery began accepting test deliveries recently as it moves closer to commercialization. Dan Evans joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the uniqueness of the massive Dangote project, and consider the post...

Coal is widely considered a 'dirty' fossil fuel due to its high carbon intensity. The fuel is also relatively abundant and has enabled resilience within in an expanding, and transforming, energy sector. Dan Klein joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to review coal's record-setting 2023, and consider outlooks for the fuel as energy planners embrace lower-carbon fuels and techno...

The United States emerged as the largest LNG exporter in the world in 2023, and begins 2024 with the White House delaying decision on a new export facility . This, and other uncertainties, promise an interesting year for global LNG trade. Michael Stoppard joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to review big events to hit the LNG market in 2023, and consider the biggest trends to...