Todd Petersen, Special to EnergiesNet
HOUSTON
EnergiesNet.com 03 27 2024
The CERAWeek Executive Conference continues with additional presentations covering geopolitics, post – COVID demand, OGCI, mining, CCUS and nuclear to name a few. The same is true with new technology in the innovation agora section.
Geopolitics covered many areas, but the main topics were related to Russia/Ukraine, the middle east, China and the USA. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which now goes back several years, has impacted oil and gas prices as well as food supply and prices. There does not seem to be an end in sight, and this could mean still higher prices for all of us.
The same can be said about the situation in the middle east. The impact on the supply chain that is being caused by the disruption of shipping through the Red Sea is particularly concerning. By rerouting ships to avoid the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean fuel consumption has increased along with additional time for products to get to market. Prices will only continue to go up. For major oil companies and trading companies this will also increase their profits.
OGCI is a group of major international oil companies working together to reduce carbon and methane emissions. CCUS is an extension and is for carbon capture underground storage. Mining was mainly directed to rare earth minerals.
During a presentation by Liam Mallon, President Upstream ExxonMobil and Russell Hardy, CEO Vitol they each expressed different corporate philosophies. This session was chaired by Daniel Yergin one of the founders of CERAWeek. Vitol and ExxonMobil are both motivated by profit for their shareholders and employees but with twist. ExxonMobil takes a long-term view investing in assets, 30 to 40 years. Most E&P projects can take this long to develop. Vitol, while also investing in assets, started as a trading company and takes a shorter-term view. They prefer taking positions in products, shipping and terminaling but on a shorter term. There was a “Woman in Energy” Session. Represented were women from different walks like H.E. Dr. Amani Abou-Zeid, Commissioner, for Infrastructure, Energy & Digitation African Union. Kathleen Ash is the President & Chief Executive Officer of Denbury, Inc., ExxonMobil. Denbury is an enhanced oil and gas recovery company in the US Gulf and Rocky Mountains. ExxonMobil purchased Denbury several years ago. Their specialty is using carbon dioxide to extract oil and gas. Evelyn N. Wang is Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), United States Department of Energy. And rounding
out the panel was Nicke Widyawati President Director & Chief Executive, Pertamina. Pertamina is the largest company in Indonesia concentrating on the oil and gas industry. All are very talented and highly accomplished women. One thing they all have in common was the challenge of working their way up the ladder in a male dominated industry.
Besides government officials from the USA there were many from around the world. There were several from India which covered the energy demands in India. Demand in India continues to grow by double digits. There is too much burning of wood and coal which is having a detrimental health effect on its population. India must transition to new and cleaner fuels. The India energy transition means moving to EV’s and natural gas. The problem is that coal is cheaper than alternative fuels like natural gas. In Asia, coal represents most of the fuel consumed. But as a general comment throughout the conference LNG is considered a cleaner burning fuel and a transition fuel to renewables.
There were numerous special guests, but the riches had to be Bill Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft and current founder of Breakthrough Energy and TerraPower. Besides the Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation which is dedicated to improving health in the third world eliminating TB and malaria. TerraPower intends to build the next generation nuclear plant. TerraPower see a future in fission. Breakthrough Energy is a group of investors that search for companies to invest in with a focus on batteries, renewables and biofuels.
Innovation agora,” where technology and innovation meet” was full of new ideas and products. Agora creates hubs and pods were start up companies can pitch their technologies in an informal setting. This was held in the George R Brown convention center which is connected to the Hilton of the Americas where CERAWeek was being held.
One of the new companies exhibiting in innovation agora was a company called RADIA. They are based in Colorado. This company is going to build the largest plane to fly in the world. The plane is called the WindRunner. It is larger than a Boing 747 or the Russian AN-225. The aircraft is designed to carry the generator and wings for a large wind turbine. Very impressive. Radia is looking at estimates that up to $10 trillion will be spent on onshore wind through 2050. The plane WindRunner will be capable of carrying a GigaWind, the XXL turbines made by Radia’s partners. Presently, turbine blades are 230 feet or less, but Radia plans to deploy blades of up to 341 feet that could potentially be two to three times more powerful.
There were presentations on biofuels, ammonia as a fuel, blue and green hydrogen. In one presentation there was talk of stripping hydrogen from LNG. There were presentations on the use of and future of AI. All these products and others are going to change the world. AI will eventually take over the world and humans will probably never have to work again.
EnergiesNet.com 03 22 2024
