CERAWeek: An All-of-the-Above Approach?
The world’s race towards deployable and reliable renewable energy gained considerable steam over the last year for many reasons. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine exposed both Europe’s expedited rush to green energy and their over-reliance on the Kremlin for oil and gas. However, that showed that prioritizing renewable energy deployment is a necessity as long as traditional energy sources can be paired with renewables to keep energy secure, reliable and affordable.
This dual path has caused the global energy industry, and specifically the United States’ domestic approach, to balance traditional fuels and investments with renewables. Even President Biden has conceded that we’ll continue to be reliant on oil and gas.
A recent Wall Street Journal piece covered this ongoing balancing act. It is undoubtedly going to be a major focus in Houston this week for oil executives, government officials and environmentalists at S&P Global’s CERAWeek conference. Fossil fuel executives are expected to tout decarbonization and low carbon initiatives while also discussing opportunities for investment in the sector.
An all-of-the-above approach is paramount for combatting volatile energy costs, securing our nation’s energy independence, and facilitating a transition to renewables. If the U.S. and Biden administration have learned anything from the past year’s events, it should be that an over reliance on foreign sources of energy, and a rush towards untested technologies not yet widespread and efficient, will spell trouble.
Speaking about CERAWeek, Dan Pickering, founder and CIO of Pickering Energy Partners sees progress from both sides of the argument, saying, “there’s a much broader push for decarbonization globally, and there’s also a much broader realization that we are ‘stuck’ with hydrocarbons until we can achieve that decarbonization.”