Energy Executive of the Year Leadership Dialogue

Leadership Dialogue

Portfolio Strategies: Seeking Profit and Transformation Objectives  
Balancing the need for profit and pursuit of corporate ESG principles is a delicate exercise, especially with the uncertainty associated with the Age of Protectionism. This panel will seek to highlight the tactics associated with successful strategies for energy companies compelled to manage multiple objectives for different stakeholders. 

Low Carbon Technologies in the New World Order

The pace of the race to net zero has been tempered by the new geoeconomics of the Age of Protectionism. What does this mean for relatively costly emissions displacement solutions like green hydrogen and carbon capture? Despite perceived cost headwinds, global low carbon hydrogen supply is estimated to grow 30x by 2030 and major investments in carbon capture continue to progress. This panel will look to the when and how the considerable potential of low carbon technologies may be realised.

Energy Traders and the New World Order

Traders play an essential role in the functioning of the energy system and now face a much-altered international landscape to operate within. At a time of shifting geopolitical power structures, new terms of trade and a pivot away from the global order of the post war years that fostered open trade and limited trade barriers, this panel will investigate how the trading community positioning themselves to thrive in the age of protectionism.

Energy Innovation Award Presentation & Leadership Dialogue

North American Energy Markets at a Crossroads  
The steady integration of US, Canadian and Mexican energy markets faces headwinds from the new policies adopted by government. The outlook for the multibillion-dollar trade in energy between those major producing and consuming countries is at risk and this panel discussion will explore what challenges and opportunities companies operating within, or targeting sales to, North American oil gas and power markets need to be prepared for.

Exploration is Back 
After a year of notable new discoveries and because of the changes the new geopolitics of protectionism are bringing to energy markets, the narrative in upstream oil and gas has shifted to emphasize restocking the funnel of projects. Exploration activities have come back into the spotlight and this panel will cover the key drivers, main opportunities and wildcards for E&P players to consider.

A Nuclear Renaissance? 
In the wake of major financial commitments by technology players and given the technology’s alignment with national security priorities, nuclear power is increasingly seen to be a solution for the competition challenges of the Age of Protectionism. Whether it is in the form of small modular reactors or conventional plants shrunk to fit new use cases, this panel will provide a timely reference point for the state of the nuclear industry, the potential for scaling up and delivering small generating units to a hungry marketplace.

Climate Action for a Post 1.5 Degree World

Global temperatures breached the 1.5 Degree Celsius threshold set by the Paris Agreement two years ago and atmospheric greenhouse gas emissions levels have continued to rise since. Going into key climate talks at COP30 in Brazil in November, this panel will debate what public and private sector climate action look like in a world where our most ambitious targets are looking less and less feasible.

Electrification and the Outlook for Low Emissions Fuels

The transportation sector is being pushed towards an ambitious low carbon agenda, with notable plans for the roll out of electric vehicles, sustainable aviation fuel and even electrification of short haul and cargo flights gaining momentum. This panel will consider what to expect from these innovative solutions and by when, as well as looking to what new low carbon solutions mean for traditional fuel market dynamics. 

Does Protectionism Boost or Imperil the Market for Carbon?

At a time when costs associated with the trade of goods is very much in the political spotlight due to new tariff related premiums, what is the outlook for Europe’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the wider market for carbon emissions intensity that had been taking shape before the Age of Protectionism? This panel will debate what energy companies, investors and traders need to consider.

BRICS: Driving The New Political, Economic and Energy Order

Large emerging markets, rich in resources, large in population and increasingly assertive on the international stage, have become a key focus for expectations of future energy supply and demand. Are this group of countries, which include Brazil, Russia, India and China, the drivers of established market dynamics or are they disrupting markets and reshaping the energy supply chains and consumption patterns? This panel will explore how we should be thinking about BRICS and their role in energy markets today and in the future.

Gas and Power System Resilience

Gas as a destination is not a new idea but the role of gas-fired generation as a longer-term solution to power system flexibility requirements has risen up the agenda amid shifting emphasis in energy transition strategies. This is particularly so in Asian markets where coal displacement opportunities are widespread. This panel will bring together voices from gas and power sectors to debate the role of gas in a lower carbon future.

Energy Economist Award Presentation & Leadership Dialogue

Leadership Dialogue

AI and the Future of Energy Demand and Supply 
Since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, and the more widespread adoption of artificial intelligence technologies since, there has been considerable speculation about how AI will impact energy supply and demand. This panel of industry experts will debate just how much of the upside is hype and look to how AI is, and is not, shifting the short and longer-term fundamentals in energy commodity and energy technology markets.

How Does Protectionism Impact Existing Opportunities and Risks in the Global LNG Market 
As tariffs and energy security concerns reshape established energy supply strategies, is the global LNG trade likely to suffer? This panel will explore the critical question of how the reshaping of the world order.

Meeting the Energy Investment Challenge

Questions continue to be posed about the adequacy of capital investment in fossil fuels and low carbon technology to meet future global energy demand. In oil, gas and power we are not spending what we need to guarantee orderly market functioning and price formation. The causes of underinvestment are many and as this panel will explore, so too are the different ways the financial sector can respond to meet the underinvestment challenge.

Renewable Energy Business Models in the Age of Protectionism

Global renewable energy levels have never been higher but the financial performance of projects and portfolios in this sector have underperformed relative to fossil fuel equivalents. What business models are the leaders of the sector adopting to improve the bottom line and what strategies look best placed to offer investors in renewables the sorts of returns investors are accustomed to from the energy sector.

Middle East Outlook  
Since the last Energy Intelligence Forum there has been a profound reordering of the balance of power in the Middle East. At the heart of this are the US and Iran and at a time when the US strategy for the Middle East is unpredictable and Iran’s status as a regional power has faced significant upheaval, it is critical to explore what the future holds for the US, Israel, Iran, Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon. This panel, convened with Energy Intelligence’s partners from the Conflicts Forum, will provide a guide for what to prepare for in 2026 and beyond.

Risk Management and Geopolitical Change

Uncertainty is one face of the New World Order that is taking shape in the Age of Protectionism. With established strategies facing a myriad of new geopolitical and geoeconomic priorities, risks are on the rise. This panel will address the different ways financial and corporate strategies are evolving to factor in new risks and what tactics are being adopted to optimise returns on capital allocation.