Upstream In Perspective

Inspiration Mobility is the world’s first electric vehicle Fleet Management Company, or eFMC.  The self-described “electrification accelerator” is backed by investment from Macquarie, Arclight Capital, and Ferrovial and offers solutions that include fleet management, charging-as-a-service (CaaS), and electrification finance. Inspiration Mobility CEO Josh Green joins EnergyCents hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss Inspiration Mobility’s business model and describe how the company is navigating opportunity within the transforming energy and transportation sectors. Learn more about Inspiration Mobility at: https://inspirationmobility.com/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Renewable natural gas (RNG) has been one of the fastest low-carbon fuels to reach commerciality in the United States because of its ability to leverage traditional gas infrastructure. RNG has also benefited from recent innovation in compressed natural gas (CNG) engines used in heavy duty trucking. S&P Global experts Tom DiChristopher and Greg Genette joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss RNG’s success as a drop-in fuel and how technological innovation and supportive policy are helping to decarbonize commercial transportation. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 Humphreys talk to S&P Global International Upstream VP Michael Wynn about the current upstream climate, and the driving factors behind continued exploration and why operators are reaching out to deep water 'frontier' regions. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss Brazil’s prolific offshore oil sector and how its use of CO2 advantages the carbon intensity of its barrels. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 chains and flag how automakers plan to manage the CO2 footprint of their operations as they shift to electric vehicles. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 to decarbonizing the global economy and how challenging it can be to find consensus when every business sector and host government begins its journey from a different starting point. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en Links: Report: The GHG intensity of North Sea production in 2022

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 for other countries.   Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 models being explored by both energy incumbents and investor-backed start-ups.   Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en   SPGCI Clean Energy Technology Webinar: https://events.spglobal.com/event/afb7ba0b-6149-48db-9d6d-9bcb9347bd19/summary  

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 the global oil refining complex with metals smelting and consider the challenges of long-lead times and not-in-my-backyard resistance when adding capacity to either sector.   Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 United States and Asia, and how business models are responding to the uncertainties of evolving subsidies. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the opportunities to apply artificial intelligence to a transforming energy sector and identify the types of companies leading investment in the area. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 influence electricity investment in emerging markets and draw specific attention to economies in Africa and Southeast Asia.   Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 responding to calls for load growth after more than a decade of flat demand.   Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 should not expect India to impact global energy markets in the coming decades the same way China did in the past. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 and Hui Min Foong join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss Singapore’s Low-Carbon Import Project and consider some of the plan’s technical, commercial, and political challenges. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

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 Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en