Wednesday, 19 March 2025 / Edition 50

I attended CERAWeek last week in Houston. In this edition, I share some key takeaways from the conference. These summaries represent my personal take on the content there, and I welcome your thoughts and opinions—especially if you attended, too.

Shangyou Nie

Editor, Well Read

Key Themes from CERAWeek

Courtesy of CERAWeek 2025, presented by S&P Global

This year, roughly 10,000 people from government, industry, and academic institutions attended the 43rd annual CERAWeek.

Many times, while I was there, I wished I could split myself into multiple parts to attend parallel sessions. There is so much good information shared!

Here are five key themes from the talks I heard this year:

1. Gas/LNG will be big in the coming years, enabled by faster permitting and infrastructure investment.

2. For many international companies, investing in the U.S. energy sector is not just a priority, but an “imperative.”

3. Exploration is back.

4. AI replaced hydrogen and climate as the new talk of the town.

5. China and the United States are taking very different energy pathways, not so much due to politics or environment, but because of economic realities.

Now, let’s look at some of the things leaders had to say about each of these themes.

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Memorable Quotes from CERAWeek

Courtesy of CERAWeek 2025, presented by S&P Global

On how gas and LNG will be big:

• “Natural gas is responsible for 43 percent of U.S. electricity,” Chris Wright, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

• “We are seeing a 20–40 percent gas demand increase in the United States,” Toby Rice, CEO, EQT Corp.

• “500,000 jobs are attributed to U.S. LNG,” Eric Eyberg, Head of Global Gas & Power Consulting, S&P Global

• “Forty percent of the technically recoverable gas is in the Utica and Marcellus basins, but how much gas is politically recoverable is the real question,” Alan Armstrong, CEO, The Williams Cos.

• “U.S. LNG export is bigger than Hollywood and CBS Sports,” Michael Smith, Founder and CEO, Freeport LNG

• “Countries such as India and Vietnam need ‘affordable’ LNG,” Patrick Pouyanné, CEO, TotalEnergies, referring to a price decrease for gas/LNG

On regulation and permitting:

• “Red tapes are in two groups: overlap and over-reach,” Doug Burgum, Secretary, U.S. Department of Interior

• “There is $6–10 per barrel of extra cost due to regulatory uncertainty for our industry,” Burgum

• “One of the biggest problems in this country is the ‘pipeline cancellation movement,’” Rice

• “It is embarrassing to our country that we need a Congressional Act to get a pipeline built,” Armstrong

• “‘Will the IRA tax credits stay?’ is perhaps the biggest issue facing the live deals today,” Peter Gardett, Head of Research, Karbone

• “We hope to have the same tax credit for CO2 sequestration, whether in saline rocks or for EOR,” Vicki Hollub, CEO, Occidental Petroleum

On AI and energy needs for data centers:

• “The key word for AI Energy need is speed, speed, and speed—plus, stability,” Armstrong

• “We want companies in the New England area to enjoy the same benefits of low-cost energy as in Pennsylvania,” Burgum

• “More exploration starts with more seismic work, helped by AI,” Murray Auchincloss, CEO, BP

On investing in oil and gas and exploration:

• “U.S. oil production will probably peak by the end of this decade, and then stay on plateau for a few years,” Ryan Lance, CEO, ConocoPhillips

• “There is a need for oil and gas upstream investments—full stop,” Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency

• “We will drill 40 exploration wells in the next three years,” Auchincloss

• “We are already seeing more investment in exploration,” Lance

• “We are in a depletion business. We have to continue investing in exploration, both in frontier areas and in places such as Guyana, where we know there is oil and gas,” Dan Ammann, President for Upstream, ExxonMobil

On investing in the United States:

• “We have four advantages in the United States: Energy security, food security, military might, and AI advantage,” Lance

• “If you add oil and gas together, the United States produced over 30 million barrels of oil equivalent last year—bigger than Saudi Arabia and Russia combined,” Eyberg

• “Investing in the United States is not just a priority for us, it is an imperative,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Advanced Technology, Managing Director and Group CEO of ADNOC, and Executive Chairman of newly created investment company XRG

• “[Electricity] grid strain provides an investment opportunity,” David Foley, Global Head, Blackstone Energy Transition Partners

• “There is no shortage of capital, but there is a lack of policy clarity,” Alexandra Dimitrijevic, Managing Director and Global Head of Research and Development, S&P Global Ratings

On China:

• “Coal use in China came down from 60 percent to 53 percent in the past eight years, about 1 percentage down each year,” Yang Lei, Deputy Dean, Institute of Energy, Peking University

• “Oil as a transportation fuel already peaked in 2024,” Pei Wang, Vice President, Economics and Development Research Institute, Sinopec

• In regards to reaching targets for renewable energy, “China is six years ahead of schedule,” Eric Luo, Group Vice President and President, North America, Longi Green Energy Technology Co.

• “Why is China moving so fast?” asked Carlos Pascual, Senior Vice President, Geopolitics and International Affairs, S&P Global. “Two key factors: Policy consistency and cluster manufacturing,” answered Luo.

Go deeper: You can watch full videos of select sessions of the conference here. Daily recaps are also available. 

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✉️ To get in touch with Shangyou, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.