Agenda – Energy Intelligence Forum 2025

Restructuring the World Order With the political and economic foundations of international society undergoing a shift in the Age of Protectionism, and the move to a lower carbon economy remaining a longer-term focal point, a profound restructuring of world order is afoot. This panel will explore the key drivers behind this restructuring, the main actors and their goals, while also presenting some of the ways corporates can prepare for the opportunities held in a profoundly uncertain future.
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.
SAF, Electrification and the Outlook for Low Emissions Aviation The aviation sector is pushing ahead with an ambitious low carbon fuel supply agenda, with notable plans for the roll out of 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 aviation solutions mean for traditional fuel market dynamics.
Technology Service Company Strategies for Supply Growth Energy demand of all sorts is slated to grow by more than a third by 2050 and energy technology service companies will have to play a critical role in supporting the expansion of available supply. This panel will bring together leaders from that sector to discuss how they’re preparing to meeting the challenge of delivering unprecedented levels of oil, gas and power supply while supporting climate and energy security.
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.
European Energy Infrastructure Security Amid ongoing conventional conflicts and evidence of cyberattacks, Europe’s energy assets, including the gas pipelines, power stations and pylons and software platforms that link producers and consumers, are increasingly perceived to be under threat. This panel will debate the materiality of conventional and unconventional threats to energy hardware and software from state and non-state actors, as well as the risk posed by persistent underinvestment in energy transportation, transmission and distribution systems.
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.

How Can Russia be Reintegrated into the European Energy and Political System? Having cut Russia out of its oil and gas markets following the invasion of the Ukraine, there is a very real prospect that European leaders now must face: the reintegration of Russian supply. To understand how this process may unfold, this panel will discuss how Russia now views Europe, and what access to European markets may or may not mean to Russia’s longer-term geopolitical goals at home and abroad.
US Middle East Agenda After the Fall of Assad 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, 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 2025 and beyond.
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.
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.
BRICS Market Drivers With evidence of a peak in China’s transport sector oil consumption mounting, many in the market are questioning whether other BRICS economic and demographic expansion will be the new engine of global energy demand. This session will give delegates an inside view from the BRICS on demand growth fundamentals, highlight the international implications of a rising oil demand giant in India and see whom might be ready to replicate China’s renewables energy success.
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.
African Resources for African Economic Development Given notable new upstream discoveries and against the backdrop of persistently underperforming power sectors, how Africa’s considerable potential for higher and lower carbon forms of energy is tapped to drive economic development is a central question for the continent and the global economy more widely. This panel will debate the choices and trade-offs that exist, and are perceived to exist, in African energy resource development.
Competitive Power Pricing vs. Rates of Return: Are Policy Makers Getting the Balance Right? Power sector regulators need to ensure two possibly conflicting objectives: keeping retail power prices sufficiently low to ensure social stability and competitiveness while also generating adequate returns on investment through wholesale market fundamentals to drive the massive scale of electrification associated with climate and energy policy goals. This panel will use national case studies to address the question whether policy makers are getting that balance right.
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.

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.
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.
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 the US 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.
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.
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.
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.