Today we had the pleasure of hosting John Dowd, CEO of GoGreen Investments, in our offices. John has spent the past 30 years investing in and analyzing energy, most recently at Fidelity, and in 2021 raised over $275 million to create GoGreen Investments. A few months ago, GoGreen announced they were taking Lifezone Metals public, creating the first nickel resource listed on NYSE. We were thrilled to visit with John for a minerals and mining focused discussion. Our conversation spanned several elements of the energy transition. We touch on John’s story and how and why he chose to focus on minerals, the GoGreen team, their nickel sulfide project in Tanzania, the geopolitics involved in mining, the massive amount of investment needed across the full energy spectrum, and the effects of the IRA on sourcing minerals around the world. We also discuss John’s observations on the energy transition from starting almost two years ago to today, investor attitudes and structural features of spacs, the technology involved in mining, electric vehicles overall, the auto companies and supply chains, lessons learned from oil and gas investing, political risks from Tanzania to Massachusetts, what Wall Street has right and perhaps wrong on energy investing today, and many more topics made possible by John’s thoughtfulness and his deep energy experience. We ended the session with John’s optimistic view for the energy world ten years from now. Mike Bradley kicked off the show by flagging that the substantial move higher in Treasury yields (10 year - nearing 4%) was “taking the wind out” of the stock market. He also highlighted the continued plunge in US natural gas price with both prompt and the 12-month natural gas strip trading at/near two-year lows. He noted that with the current 12-month natural gas strip below $3.00/MMBtu that it would result in multiple natural gas rig drop announcements by E&Ps over the coming weeks/months. He ended the conversation by signaling that this week would be a very heavy week of Q4 energy reporting, and one dominated by E&Ps. Todd Scruggs also joined the crew for today’s discussion. As always, thanks to you all for your support and friendship!

It was our honor today to welcome back our good friend Dr. Dan Yergin, Vice Chairman of S&P Global and Chairman of CERAWeek. As you all undoubtedly know, Dan is the Pulitzer Prize winning author of “The Prize,” the more recent author of “The New Map,” and is a highly esteemed and revered voice in the energy space. His achievements and contributions to the industry are immense and we were so thankful to have an hour of his time to discuss the state of the energy world.    We have spoken with Dan on COBT on two previous occasions. The episodes, although they took place in recent years, seem like they were eons ago. On May 5th, 2020 we visited with Dan during the initial depths of the COVID crisis. And just last year, we visited with Dan just days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It’s stunning to think back on how different both of those worlds are from today.   As you will hear in today’s episode, the range of topics covered was extensive. The items and issues included the US SPR levels, the North / South divide on the energy transition, the challenges of expanding minerals supply, the IRA, the strong push governments are giving the energy transition, the talk and the mood at Davos, Dan’s perspective on European governments and their palpable return to reality on energy security, the different perspectives that will be showcased at CERA on the energy transition, and the US and China relationship. We also discussed Dan’s recent study on the future of copper, Dan’s view on natural gas and its long-term role, the automotive companies and their plans to go electric, how to plan in an energy boardroom with all this uncertainty, and observations on this year’s CERAWeek conference. No surprise... it was a fantastic, thought-provoking discussion!   Mike Bradley kicked off the show flagging a few key items including the Valentine's Day above expectations January CPI print, potential for decreased natural gas activity, and OPEC's 2023 supply / demand forecast in the face of a wobbly economy. He then framed us up for the discussion with Dan by looking at how WTI, Brent, natural gas prices, gasoline and a few other items have moved since Dan's last COBT appearance on February 22nd, 2022.  Jeff Tillery also joined and peppered in his thoughts to the discussion.   As always, it was our pleasure to visit with Dan and we greatly look forward to CERAWeek. We hope you enjoy the discussion as much as we did! Our best to you all.

This week we had the pleasure of co-hosting a panel and live town hall style discussion with our good friends from Vinson & Elkins featuring the recent work of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (or “HETI”). It was exciting to bring the community together and have a live, studio audience to discuss the opportunities and challenges for Houston to serve as the capital of the energy transition. We had the honor of hosting Bobby Tudor, my former partner, CEO of Artemis Energy Partners, and previous Chair of the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP), Jane Stricker, Executive Director of HETI and Sarah Morgan, Co-Head of M&A and Capital Markets at Vinson & Elkins. While it was a Houston-focused discussion, the conversation more broadly focused on the role of classic energy producers and industrial users in the changes to come, and most certainly the things every energy and industrial community can focus on in preparing for the energy future.    The catalyst to our discussion was a report that the Greater Houston Partnership released late last year, “Perspective on The Energy Transition Capital of The World: Houston’s Opportunity to Win by Catalyzing Capital Formation” (the report is linked here). Bobby laid the groundwork for our discussion with background on the GHP and the formation of HETI, and from there we touched on Houston’s ecosystem around the energy transition, the concentration of energy capital in the city and the financial community’s critical involvement going forward, getting solid and interlocking contracts completed and how that will help get more money to work, and working with non-traditional financing structures to facilitate new technologies. We also discussed the role for Houston’s traditional oil and gas companies, noting that the biggest investment dollars on energy transition have been coming from the incumbent energy industry, HETI’s partnerships with local and state universities and the focus on developing talent and the workforce broadly, the thorny permitting process and how “primacy” will be critical for maintaining a competitive advantage and simply getting things done, and more. Bobby summed it up well by saying “we are the laboratory for the energy transition” given the unique combination of Houston’s infrastructure, it's industrial base, it's local energy and related companies, it’s engineering talent and overall workforce, its pro-business attitude, physical location, and nearby geology for CCUS.  At some level, this episode was all about what Houston looks like in 10 years. And forgive us for saying so, but what Houston does and how it adapts will be pivotal to how the nation as a whole and certainly the oil and gas industry adapts. We can’t thank the team enough for a great discussion!   Thank you again to our friends at Vinson & Elkins for co-hosting and to the great crowd who turned out and asked some excellent questions. We hope you enjoy this Special Edition COBT! 

We had a fantastic session today with Kendall Dilling, President of Pathways Alliance. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Pathways Alliance was formed by Canada’s six largest oil sands producers (who account for 95% of oil sands production) to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from their operations by 2050. To do so, they have created a “doable, credible net-zero plan” and are working with federal and provincial governments to meet their target. Kendall has over 20 years of technical and environmental experience in the energy industry and it was our pleasure to visit with him and learn about the great work at Pathways Alliance.   To help guide today’s discussion, Kendall shared a presentation covering the vision that drives the Pathway Alliance. In the walkthrough with Kendall, we discuss long range oil supply and demand forecasts, the six companies involved and their mission, Pathways Alliance’s three-stage solution to net-zero, the major CCUS system and transportation line from oil sands in northern Alberta to a storage hub near Cold  Lake, additional major projects including electrification, examples of additional technologies that could be developed and deployed to reduce emissions past 2030, and a comparison of ESG oil scores across the globe showing why cleaner Canadian and US oil should be the preferred barrels globally. It was a fantastic overview that spurred many questions and comments from the team. We wrapped with where Kendall sees Canadian energy ten years from now.   To start the show, Mike Bradley reviewed energy equity and commodity performance from the past week, flagging sideways trading in crude oil, modestly improving Brent time spreads and US natural gas continuing its slide lower. He then focused on major oil companies with many reporting earnings this last week and offered up several reasons why EU Oil Majors are outperforming US Oil Majors this year. He wrapped by emphasizing Canadian energy’s influence on the US and how it will become even more important as US shale production plateaus. Arjun Murti, part of Veriten’s Advisory Board, also joined today’s show and shared his arguments for why Canadian oil should be praised for being profitable, abundant, affordable, reliable, and as clean as anywhere in the world.  We look forward to staying connected with the team at Pathways Alliance and watching their progress in the months and years to come. Thanks to you all!

Yesterday was a special day as February 2nd marks the one-year anniversary of Veriten's launch. A year ago, we hosted our first COBT at the new company and were so honored to have Secretary James A Baker join us at The Ion for Veriten show number one. During that show, Secretary Baker discussed many things, including Ukraine, the National Debt, and why fossil fuels were important to the country's security and economic health. More than anything, Secretary Baker reminded us of the power America can harness when we collectively set our eyes on "making progress" rather than simply on "making noise." As we reflected on our first year, we were incredibly lucky to find a first anniversary guest who could help us view today's world from a truly commanding height. Jeff Tillery and I had the honor of visiting with Eric Cantor, former House Majority Leader and current Managing Director and Vice Chairman at Moelis & Company. Eric's extensive 30-year career in politics and business allowed for a robust discussion spanning public policy, economics, energy and other industries, the markets, and the globe at large. It was a fascinating and wide-ranging exchange. We kicked it off by hitting the top three issues on Eric's radar including monetary and fiscal policy, the social divide in the US, and the geopolitical strains stemming from the challenging US / China relationship. These three themes remained paramount in our discussion as we covered a broad range of topics including the IRA's and the CHIP Act's international impact, Eric's takeaways from Davos, his observations on the similarities and differences with the current and last national debt debate during his time in public office, and the ever-present partisan divide in the US. He also covered implications of the new interest rate regime, impressions of the energy policy debate, the 2024 Presidential race outlook, US relationships with Latin America and India, the importance of energy security, and more. We wrapped with Eric's vision and outlook for the next ten years. On one thing Eric was resoundingly clear, that the numerous problems the US faces are outweighed by his optimism for and confidence in America and the American system of governance. At Veriten, we are very excited about what all of you are helping us build. We are up to 15 people and have an advisory board that brings us to 20. Our mission remains the same - save the world by saving the conversation, and help all of us create a better framework for understanding what the energy world really looks like in ten years. The first year has been great fun and a great challenge... thank you for riding with us and supporting us along the way! It was our pleasure to host Eric and we can't thank him enough for his time. Thanks again for a wonderful year and we hope you enjoy the discussion! 

Today we had the pleasure of hosting the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) for an oil and gas focused discussion. Joining us are Steve Pruett, Chairman of the Board, and Dan Naatz, COO and EVP. Steve and Dan are in Houston for NAPE, which almost all of you are probably familiar with, but for those of you who are not, the conference is gathering 8,000 plus people this year to talk oil and gas overall and oil and gas dealmaking in particular. To understand more about what's happening at NAPE. The IPAA was formed in 1929 by President Hoover and is headquartered in Washington, representing over 6,000 member companies and over 4 million oil and gas jobs spread over 33 states. These member companies account for over 80% of US oil production and 90% of US natural gas production. While oil and gas provides so much of the energy in today's world, we are often talking to the "new" providers of energy and so we very much enjoyed our "back to basics" oil and gas focused conversation with the IPAA. Some of the topics we covered include current activity in Washington, the focus on improving the permitting process (for all energy flavors), Steve's background and journey to the IPAA, the IPAA's current key areas they're working on, Dan's observations on his 20-year history at the IPAA, this year's outlook for NAPE and key themes, the makeup of the IPAA member community, and much more. As you will hear, the US faces some very important critical choices in the next 3-4 years that will determine how healthy it's oil and gas industry is a decade from now. Mike Bradley kicked us off with an update on year-to-date activity in equity and commodity markets, flagging the continued move lower in natural gas prices and a few reasons why natural gas levered equities have decoupled from the commodity. He also highlighted key upcoming events including Wednesday's Fed meeting and an OPEC meeting as well as EU sanctions on Russian products that go into effect on February 5th, and the potential upside implications for global product prices, especially mogas. We had great fun with Steve and Dan in the studio and hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did. Thanks to you all! 

We had a fantastic session today with Stan Miranda, Founder and Chairman of Partners Capital. Stan co-founded Partners Capital in 2001 with a goal to transform investment strategy. Today the company manages ~$45 billion of assets for endowments, foundations, institutions and private clients with seven offices across the globe. We covered a fascinating and broad range of topics, all centered around the practical investability of the energy transition. The foundation for the conversation was a report that Partners Capital published last spring, "Global Energy Transition Investment Framework." In our discussion, we touch on what Stan is observing in the public equity space, the private equity energy transition approach, aspects of the transition Stan is most optimistic and most worried about, the first Clean Tech investing experience, the gap between government subsidies and total sector capital needs, the Partners Capital investing view on China, and the energy transition investing dilemma Stan describes as "a vast ocean of opportunity and all we have are these little straws to get the tiny bit of opportunity out of it." We end with feedback Stan has received since releasing the report and his thoughts on what the energy landscape might look like in ten years. Thank you, Stan, for joining late from London and for sharing your insights with us all!  To start the show Mike Bradley reviewed commodity and energy market performance from the past week and briefly touched on the premarket NYSE trading glitch which halted trading in numerous names. He also highlighted that natural gas continued its recent pullback and risks E&Ps potentially pulling back activity. He indicated that the upcoming debt ceiling saga will continue to weigh on market sentiment and wrapped up by highlighting some key themes from the kick-off of oil service Q4 earnings. Jeff Tillery continued the earnings conversation and shared his observations on what investors are listening for in the next few weeks. Thanks to you all for your support and friendship!  

We are beyond excited to share this week's COBT as we had the opportunity to visit with the team at the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). Joining us for the session are Dr. Holly Bamford, Chief Conservation Officer, Dr. John Lamoreux, Director, Fish and Wildlife Conservation, and Kristen Byler, Senior Scientist, Marine Conservation. Since its inception in 1984, NFWF has collaborated with federal, corporate and individual partners to put over $7 billion to work with conservation projects across all 50 US states and US territories. We were delighted to visit with the team and talk about NFWF's mission to build partnerships and drive conservation efforts for current and future generations. To help orient the conversation, Dr. Bamford first shared background on the organization, it's fascinating history, and mission. From there, we discuss how the organization's partners are involved with each project and respective community, the diversity of their partnerships and projects and focus on "Getting Stuff Done," the link between nature and the energy sector including specific projects NFWF is working on with the energy industry, NFWF's involvement with carbon sequestration and associated challenges, the need for national standardization for carbon sequestration, three ways to invest in nature to sequester carbon, how individuals can get involved with NFWF, and much more. We had a hard time ending the discussion but wrapped with where Dr. Bamford, Dr. Lamoreux and Kristen see NFWF ten years from now. It was a great discussion and we are inspired by their eager spirit to "Do More Good In More Places." Mike Bradley kicked us off with a quick market update from the past week, flagging the possibility that natural gas companies may pull back on rig count and flagged a few upcoming events including PPI reporting, the World Economic Forum in Davos taking place this week, Chinese market activity, and the beginning of oilfield services Q4 results, with SLB first out of the chute. Jeff Tillery also joined for today's discussion as well as Nick Lance, Veriten's Nature-Based Solutions Project Lead. We look forward to following NFWF's projects and progress over the coming years! Thanks to you all. Let's keep 2023 rolling!

Welcome to another week of COBT! Today we had the pleasure of visiting with Josh Freed, Senior Vice President of the Climate and Energy Program at Third Way. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Third Way is a public policy think tank with a global presence focused on advocating for policies that represent modern center-left ideas. Josh is the founder of the organization's clean energy and climate program, which launched in 2009, and oversees strategy to accelerate policy in the US and Europe to create energy that is clean, affordable, secure and reliable.  To help frame the discussion, Josh first provides background on the Energy and Climate team at Third Way and their focus on ensuring the conversation around clean energy includes every technology that could help with decarbonization. From there, we touch on the organization's presence in Washington, their centrist ideology, the current state of pragmatism in Washington and areas for bipartisan support, permitting reform and the importance of a can-do spirit. We also discussed technologies that Josh and his team are working on including sustainable aviation fuel and carbon management technologies, Josh's view on the future of natural gas, addressing transmission issues, Josh's view on the biggest areas of opportunity for classic energy companies and what he says is the transformative challenge of the 21st century, and more. We wrap with Josh's view on the energy mix in ten years. We greatly enjoyed the fulsome discussion! The Veriten team kicked off the show: Mike Bradley shared his thoughts around Thursday's December CPI print and key themes from the recent Goldman Sachs Global Energy and Clean Technology Conference. He also highlighted the Fed's statement on climate change, proposals in New York to ban natural gas heating and appliances in the state, and flagged the upcoming World Economic Forum Meeting in Davos as well as OFS earnings kicking off in two weeks. Brett Rampal shared interesting data from the Energy Information Agency on their predictions for 2024 and noted we can expect lots of regulatory engagement in 2023 for nuclear projects around the world. Thanks to Josh for a fantastic discussion and thanks to you all for your support and friendship! 

Happy 2023 to you all! Welcome to the first COBT of the year featuring Danny Rice, incoming CEO of NET Power. Danny has a remarkable perspective from which he could discuss many of the issues and opportunities in today's energy world. He has seen and accomplished much... former CEO of Rice Energy, investing in and then selling Archaea Energy to BP, his experience on the EQT board, former Whiting Petroleum board member, and now the next CEO of NET Power, just to hit a few of the highlights. As you will hear in the conversation, we drew on all of his experience to discuss a wide range of great energy topics. The theme of our discussion today was around what Danny referred to as the energy trifecta... reliable, clean, and affordable. Danny and his brothers have made a career in and around natural gas and we certainly spent a good amount of time on gas as the decarbonizing weapon of the future. What was particularly new here was the topic of NET Power and the company's unique technology that has the potential to create emission free natural gas-driven power. "Zero emission natural gas" is obviously very compelling. We dig into the details and do our best to explore all the implications and angles. We joked going in that this episode should be our first two-hour COBT and there is no question we could have gone that long. But don't worry, we kept it to our usual hour. And it was really a fantastic hour! Mike Bradley kicked us off with a review of the red on Tuesday's screen, a look back at last year, some preview of the next three to six months, and finally a longer range outlook. Jeff Tillery shared his views on returns and the much-improved upstream business model. Todd Scruggs also joined for the robust discussion with Danny. What a great way to kick off the year. We can't thank Danny enough and hope you get a chance to enjoy this one in its entirety. All the best for an incredible year from all of us at Team Veriten!