The annual CERAWeek conference arrives in Houston beginning Monday – with global leaders in the energy industry to talk, well, a lot of the things they’ve talked for years: oil, gas, renewables, how to deal with the warming planet, and other topics. And while it’s been a tumultuous year since the last such conference, the market has been pretty stable.
Global oil prices have remained in a range between $75 and $85 per barrel, which doesn’t really upset too many people, and U.S. natural gas benchmarks have plunged to rock-bottom levels, even though there’s war in Eastern Europe and turmoil in the Middle East.
“A remarkable thing is the (price) stability, given the geopolitical turmoil,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of conference organizer S&P Global and the founder of what was then known as Cambridge Energy Research Associates, hence the CERAWeek moniker. But the primary issue this year will likely be energy security issues – as countries worldwide try to lock in supply agreements for the super-cooled liquefied natural gas, and continue to build out solar, nuclear and other emission-free energy to combat the pace of rising world temperatures. There’s still plenty of fossil-fuel development, of course.
Notably, this year will not feature many of the usual dignitaries from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries – top oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq. No officials from Russia are expected after they did not attend last year. OPEC has been able to hold down crude oil exports from its members to keep prices somewhat elevated, but they’ve been offset by increases in output elsewhere, particularly in the United States, which is now turning out more than 13 million barrels of crude every day.
There are expected to be several conference sessions on carbon sequestration technology and hydrogen fuels, two of the industry’s favorite talking points on addressing global warming – even though the former’s success has been rather limited of late and the latter is still in very early stages. The role of artificial intelligence in energy production and carbon emissions will be featured this year.
Among those attending will be the heads of top producers’ BP, Chevron and Exxon Mobil and Saudi Aramco, along with U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
