Engaging vs Divesting: Driving Change in Industries

Scott Gale is Executive Director at Halliburton Labs. 

Halliburton is a complex company. It’s a 100-year-old oil field services giant, known for its extensive fracking operations and infrastructure expertise in the oil and gas sector. It is not an oil and gas distributor like Chevron or Exxon, but it is a powerhouse nonetheless. With their Halliburton Labs program, Scott and team are actively investing in and supporting the innovation ecosystem around clean energy and climate tech. They specifically focus on technologies that are outside the purview of Halliburton's core businesses.

Cody and Scott attempt to address all of this. The conversation covers Halliburton Labs' startup collaborations, the interplay between its core business and these ventures, Scott's views on Halliburton's past controversies, hydrocarbons' economic role, and the energy transition's trajectory. They conclude with reflections on Houston's evolving innovation ecosystem.

In this episode, we cover: 

• [04:00]: Scott's role and the founding of Halliburton Labs in 2020
• [05:18]: Halliburton Labs supporting diverse energy sector startups
• [07:01]: Unique engagement and equity model with startups at Halliburton Labs
• [09:00]: Strategic differences between Halliburton Labs and typical corporate venture
• [11:36]: Halliburton Labs' approach to IP rights and founder-centric model
• [13:10]: Halliburton Labs' stance on supporting geothermal energy startups
• [14:06]: Scott's vision of a diverse future energy system
• [17:47]: The strategic origins of Halliburton Labs
• [22:18]: Scott's perspective on Halliburton's evolution and its impact
• [27:11]: The difficulty of eliminating industries in energy transition
• [33:18]: The balance of cost, reliability, and sustainability in energy systems
• [36:19]: Scott's outlook on the oil and gas sector's future
• [39:28]: Challenges of reliability in transitioning to renewable energy
• [41:56]: Various technologies' roles in the future energy landscape
• [44:17]: The changing energy and climate tech ecosystem in Houston
• [50:24]: Challenges in early-stage infrastructure finance
• [53:47]: Scott's additional activities beyond Halliburton Labs

Episode recorded on Dec 19, 2023 (Published on Jan 22, 2024)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant