Upstream In Perspective

Rich Africa Consultancy is a strategic advisory firm based in Namibia, specializing in natural resources law, energy policy, and sustainable investment. Since 2011, it has guided governments and businesses in unlocking value from Africa’s resource wealth through expert advice, ESG alignment and thought leadership.  Ndapwilapo Selma Shimutwikeni, founder and CEO of Rich Africa Consultancy, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss Namibia's transforming oil and gas landscape, as the country moves to first oil from its major discovery, and the role expectation management plays in achieving that milestone. Find out more about Rich Africa Consultancy 

Buildings in the United States account for about 40% of domestic energy demand and about 25% of greenhouse gas emissions. Increased electrification of buildings, particularly in heating, is core to policy makers realizing decarbonization ambitions. Julia Kim, a US power markets expert at S&P Global Commodity Insights, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss incentives behind US building electrification and explain how the pace of heat pump adoption will reflect regional differences in incumbent heat source and state-level policy. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Upstream operators in the Permian Basin have reduced emitted methane by 50%, or 29 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, since 2022 according to overflight data.  Importantly, this reduction has occurred at the same time as oil production has grown and reflects an improvement in the methane intensity of Permian operations. Raoul LeBlanc, vice president of upstream at S&P Global Commodity Insights, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how methane management is becoming a normal part of Permian operations and technology is shifting focus from ‘find and fix’ to ‘predict and prevent.’ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Conduit Power is a Houston-based independent power producer and services platform working behind the meter to co-locate distributed gas-generation assets alongside the projects of its commercial and industrial customers. The three-year-old company, backed by Grey Rock Investment Partners, also works in front of the meter through a model that allows upstream producers in the Permian Basin to share in the upside of converting their low-value natural gas molecules to higher-value electricity. Travis Windholz, CFO at Conduit Power, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how Conduit’s modular dispatchable generation projects use natural gas to provide the reliable and fast-to-deploy power that its oilfield, data center, and other industrial clients require. Learn more about Conduit Power at: https://conduitpower.co/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Holtec International is an established company focused on nuclear energy technology, specializing in spent fuel storage, small modular reactors (SMRs), and nuclear plant decommissioning. Its Palisades Power Plant in Michigan was shut down in 2022 and is now in the final stages of restarting after becoming in 2025 the first nuclear plant in the US to return to operations from decommissioning. Patrick O’Brien, Director of Government Affairs and Communications at Holtec, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how Holtec has transitioned from decommissioning nuclear power plants to restarting them, and how the company is on track to have its Palisades Plant in Michigan up and running later this year. Learn more about Holtec International at: https://holtecinternational.com/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Carbon Catalyst is a UK-based carbon capture & storage project developer focused on a portfolio of carbon transport and storage projects within the North Sea.  Nick Terrell, executive director of operations at Carbon Catalyst, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how the pure-play carbon transport and storage company is working with partners to leverage depleted gas fields in North Sea in the development of its Poseidon and Orion CO2 sequestration projects. Learn more about Carbon Catalyst at: https://carboncatalyst.com/about-us/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Houston-based VoltaGrid is a portable energy infrastructure company that has deployed more than 1,500 MW of distributed natural gas generation capacity since its founding in 2021. Nathan Ough, VoltaGrid CEO, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys, to discuss how the fast-growing company has expanded beyond its initial focus on powering electric frac fleets in the oilfield to meeting the speed-to-power demands of energy-hungry datacenters. Learn more about VoltaGrid at: https://voltagrid.com/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

American Heat Engine invites readers to “buckle up and … take a road trip” as it embarks on a history of how hydrocarbon development and use has shaped the United States. Kent Williamson, author of American Heat Engine: Hydrocarbons and the Power of the United States, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss his motivation for writing the new book and how he’s organized the narrative around 15 “strategic hydrocarbon bridges” that mark significant inflection points and transitions for American energy. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Ameresco designs, builds, owns, operates and maintains energy infrastructure with the stated goal of helping its customers reduce costs, enhance resilience and decarbonize operations. John Plack, Ameresco Senior Vice President of Engineering, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss why the cleantech integrator is turning its attention to geothermal and how it works with universities, hospitals and large-scale military housing to establish and expand the emerging technology. Learn more about Ameresco at: https://www.ameresco.com/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Crux is a Capital Markets platform, designed to streamline and modernize commercial workflows in the energy sector, particularly for upstream oil and gas companies. Alfred Johnson, Crux’s co-founder and CEO, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the company's journey and the market intelligence offering customers can benefit from, so they not only facilitate transactions, but also offer insights into market behaviors. Learn more about Crux at: https://www.cruxclimate.com/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

San Francisco-based Halcyon is developing an AI-assisted search and information platform that aggregates and summarizes regulatory information that pertains to US power and gas markets. The sector-specific software is designed to improve workflows and decision-making by energy professionals.  Alex Klaessig, Halcyon Chief Data Officer, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how his experience as an energy expert informs Halcyon product development and why domain specialization improves the user experience and generated results when working with artificial intelligence models. Learn more about Halcyon at: https://halcyon.io/about Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

London-based Pavegen makes triangular floor tiles that convert kinetic energy from human footsteps into electricity. The company’s technology has been installed in places that include airports, schools, dance floors, and stadiums in more than 40 countries. Laurence Kemball-Cook, founder and CEO of Pavegen, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the idea behind converting footsteps into renewable energy and how Pavegen is embarking on a fresh funding round as it positions itself for scale within the smart-city sector. Learn more about Pavegen at: https://www.pavegen.com/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Energy Recovery, with roots in the desalination industry, designs and manufactures energy-efficiency technology solutions to generate cost savings and support environmental sustainability for its global set of customers. Rodney Clemente, Energy Recovery Senior Vice President of Water, joins Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how the company is using its membrane-separation technologies to improve the energy intensity and economics of water desalination. Learn more about Energy Recovery at: https://energyrecovery.com/about/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Oxford Policy Management (OPM) is a global consultancy working across climate policy, finance, disaster risk, energy, and urban planning helping governments and communities build resilience and reduce emissions.  Katherine Cooke, Principal Consultant and Hub Lead for Climate Finance, and Apar Paudyal, Senior Consultant for Climate Resilience and Sustainability, join Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss energy and climate financing and the challenges around raising funds relating to adaptation in every changing environmental landscape.

The United States in 2025 surpassed the technical milestone of more than one gigaton of CO2 injected due, in large part, to CO2’s use in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations. Oilfield expert Derek Gonsuron joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how EOR is helping to pioneer carbon capture and utilization technologies that can help mitigate the emissions from hard-to-abate sectors. Read more on the S&P Global Commodity Insights blog here: https://www.spglobal.com/commodity-insights/en/news-research/blog/energy-transition/050925-us-hits-gigaton-milestone-in-co2-injection Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

ENFRA, formerly Bernhard, provides energy-as-a-service solutions for customers in the healthcare, higher education, hospitality, and industrial market segments. ENFRA CEO Rob Guthrie joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss his experience leading the 106-year-old company through its rebranding to ENFRA and how its energy-as-a-service model helps health care and higher education customers focus on their core operations and worry less about managing their energy infrastructure. Learn more about ENFRA at: https://enfrasolutions.com/ Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Carbon differentiation allows market participants to assign value to the role of greenhouse gas emissions associated with an economy’s goods and services. Carbon markets experts Kevin Birn and Jonty Rushforth join EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the evolution of differentiated carbon markets and how consistency in measurement and reporting can align participants’ economic incentives with environment ambitions. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Annual coal use in U.S. power generation has declined since the early 2000s as plants retire and renewables and natural gas win market share. However, 2025 may pause or slow the trend, if only temporarily. Coal-markets expert Wendy Schallom joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss how two years of stockpile build and higher gas prices in 2025 have increased the near-term competitiveness of coal in U.S. power markets. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en 

The data-hungry upstream sector has been working with artificial intelligence for more than 40 years to, among other things, mitigate subsurface risks and predict production. Upstream expert Rachael Moreland joins EnergyCents with hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the oil and gas industry’s history with AI adoption and where in the upstream value chain she’s most excited about the applications of modern innovation. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en

Global crude demand begins to peak in 2027 despite longer-term growth trajectories for both jet fuel and naphtha, according to the most recent update of S&P Global Commodity Insights’ Annual Strategic Workbook covering oil markets. Oil and refined products experts Matt Andre and Shiva Gupta join EnergyCents hosts Hill Vaden and Sam Humphreys to discuss the key messages from their updated long-term global crude oil forecasts and how oil and refined products remain a meaningful part of global energy supply even after demand peaks. Learn more about S&P Global Commodity Insights energy coverage at: https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en