“Reality Is Stubborn” Featuring Dr. Dan Yergin, S&P Global

It was our honor today to welcome back our good friend Dr. Dan Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global and Chairman of CERAWeek. As you all undoubtedly know, Dan is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “The Prize,” the more recent author of “The New Map,” and is a highly esteemed and revered voice in the energy space. His achievements and contributions to the industry are immense and we were so thankful to have an hour of his time to discuss the state of the energy world.

We have spoken with Dan on COBT on two previous occasions. The episodes, although they took place in recent years, seem like they were eons ago. On May 5th, 2020 we visited with Dan during the initial depths of the COVID crisis. And just last year, we visited with Dan just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s stunning to think back on how different both of those worlds are from today.

As you will hear in today’s episode, the range of topics covered was extensive. The items and issues included the US SPR levels, the North / South divide on the energy transition, the challenges of expanding minerals supply, the IRA, the strong push governments are giving the energy transition, the talk and the mood at Davos, Dan’s perspective on European governments and their palpable return to reality on energy security, the different perspectives that will be showcased at CERA on the energy transition, and the US and China relationship. We also discussed Dan’s recent study on the future of copper, Dan’s view on natural gas and its long-term role, the automotive companies and their plans to go electric, how to plan in an energy boardroom with all this uncertainty, and observations on this year’s CERAWeek conference. No surprise… it was a fantastic, thought-provoking discussion!

Mike Bradley kicked off the show flagging a few key items including the Valentine's Day above expectations January CPI print, potential for decreased natural gas activity, and OPEC's 2023 supply / demand forecast in the face of a wobbly economy. He then framed us up for the discussion with Dan by looking at how WTI, Brent, natural gas prices, gasoline and a few other items have moved since Dan's last COBT appearance on February 22nd, 2022. Jeff Tillery also joined and peppered in his thoughts to the discussion.

As always, it was our pleasure to visit with Dan and we greatly look forward to CERAWeek. We hope you enjoy the discussion as much as we did! Our best to you all.