Thoughts on energy cybersecurity from The Hague

The Oilholic is just rounding up a visit to The Hague, Netherlands, after an insightful two days at the ONE Conference, a leading annual cybersecurity event organised here as part of this year's Cybersecurity Week. 

In the digital age, this issue is one of critical concern and rising operating expenditure for the energy and heavy industry segments. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), big data and automation are rising in currency in the inexorable march to throughput optimisation, and hostile actors are after that digital estate given the complex world we live in.

It is therefore no surprise that energy and industrial firms have gone from reactive to proactive mode on cybersecurity, as complacency is simply not an option. That was a warning as well as a call to action delivered by none other than Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in his keynote address to the event on Tuesday. 

Here is yours truly's missive from the ONE Conference for Forbes. It also includes the thoughts of Matthijs van Amelsfort, CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre, Netherlands, on threat assessments and those of Mark Ruijsendaal, Programme Director at Security Delta, on addressing the skills and awareness gaps from a European perspective. 

Delegates also heard from Bibi van den Berg, Professor of Cybersecurity Governance, and head of the Cybersecurity Governance Research Group, at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. 

van den Berg said that rather than view security as an add-on (which is typically how most industries go about it) - were they to instead design systems and networks securely from the start - risks may be reduced and incidents may be prevented to a much higher degree than what happens at the moment. In other words, a "security by design" approach. 

Elsewhere, among the many interesting subjects on industrial cybersecurity the Oilholic engaged with, one by Justin Grosfelt, Senior Manager at Recorded Future, on turning malware against itself for proactive defence was heavily attended, with even standing room running out. 

Grosfelt asked what if the key to stopping malware was hidden inside the actual malware itself? Essentially exploring the concept of malware vaccines, i.e. using and deploying the techniques malware uses for self-preservation to turn the tables on attackers.

In an engaging session, he outlined (some of the) countermeasures that may trick malware into aborting its execution before it ever deploys its payload. 

Away from the event's wide-ranging programme, this blogger also took time out to visit its Expo. 

The theme this year was "Meet the Start-Ups." And true to the masthead, the Expo featured 30 booths where start-ups presented their latest developments in cybersecurity. 

The Expo also had a talent hub, and interestingly a "capital area" where start-ups could meet private and public organisations to discuss subsidies, funding schemes and venture investment. All-in-all, a splendid event on a vital subject. 

On that note, its goodbye from The Hague and the ONE Conference. More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'!

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2025. Photo I: Prime Minister of the Netherlands Dick Schoof addresses the ONE Conference in the Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday, September 30, 2025. Photo II: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma at the ONE Conference. Photo III: Talent Hub at the ONE Conference. © Gaurav Sharma, September / October 2025.

Charting the 'crude' trajectory of modern oil trading

Oil is the unmistakable poster child of the global commodities business. It is also a mission critical piece of the global economy, and a commodity that continues to have a profound impact on the world's financial systems and whole societies. And its all predicated on modern oil trading. 

So, if you’ve ever wondered how the industry and the 'black gold' trade has evolved, a new book - The Rivers of Money: Social and Economic History of Modern Oil Trading, by Adi Imsirovic and Colin Bryce, would be a splendid one to read.

The authors offer a deep dive based on their domain expertise of the evolution of modern oil trading, its implications, key movers and shakers, politics and idiosyncrasies.

Their book is a detailed explainer-cum-tale of the billions of dollars that are exchanged on any given trading day in the oil market, encompassing futures, forwards, swaps and options and all the financial intricacies in between.

For Imsirovic and Bryce, the global oil market "resembles a powerful river of capital, constantly flowing towards the most profitable and cost-efficient opportunities, much like water seeking the path of least resistance."

While this flow cannot be halted, the authors note that "it can be strategically guided to maximise social benefits" and explain how oil traders "navigate these swirling waters, leveraging arbitrage opportunities to channel oil across borders to the places of most efficient usage."

In a book of just under 350 pages, split by 18 detailed chapters, Imsirovic and Bryce take the reader through significant points in the history of the oil business, their impact and role in shaping what subsequently followed.

Key developments like the Suez Crisis, founding of OPEC, Arab Oil embargo, decline of the oil majors, growth of Asian markets, emergence of independent traders, major historical political interventions, ethics violations, resource curse hypotheses and legislative changes - most notably ones like US President Richard Nixon's pricing system and the arbitrage opportunities it created for traders – all undergo an authoritative examination.

An account of the transformation brought about by the City of London’s bulking up of crude volumes and Wall Street’s involvement in oil trading, both of which introduced new financial products and practices, is equally riveting.

For the authors, that marked the oil market's journey from a controlled oligopoly in the 1970s to a more dynamic trading environment, when the likes of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley entered the fray in the mid-1980s with rising numbers of hedge funds and spot traders in tow.

Of particular significance, as Imsirovic and Bryce detail, was the NYMEX’s introduction of the WTI crude oil contract in 1983, and it becoming a key price leader.

It all played a part in giving rise to a metaphorical river where "the sheer scale of the financial currents propelled by the immense volume and value of oil become relentless, powerful streams of both oil and money carving their way through the global economy."

It would be hard for, perhaps even unfair of, the Oilholic to pick excerpts and chapters in Rivers of Money, to mark as favourites. But if forced to – chapters 14 and 17 – "A billion dollars is not what it used to be" and "Paper boys" – were fascinating passages, based purely on this blogger’s specific areas of interest in a wider industry context, and immensely liking the authors' take on them as part of their holistic work on the subject matter.

Equally impactful is the authors' take on the people behind the ‘crude’ deals, electronic trading, technological advancements, data analytics and a gradual reshaping of the oil trading landscape driven by human nature and economic imperatives.

All-in-all, Rivers of Money by Imsirovic and Bryce is a thoroughly enjoyable book on the evolution of oil trading that both informs and makes you reflect on what is, and will be, the energy commodity of our age for a large length of time.

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2025. Photo: The Rivers of Money: Social and Economic History of Modern Oil Trading © Palgrave Macmillan, 2025.

Media missives from Gastech 2025

With Gastech 2025 drawing to a close, the Oilholic capped a fascinating and engaging week out in Milan, Italy by hosting four pivotal panel sessions on subjects ranging from the natural gas-AI nexus to solutions for the decarbonization of heavy industries and climatetech finance.

Yours truly also hit the airwaves and spoke to media outlets about the energy market and developments at the conference. The first broadcasting call was with the TRT World, and the final one with Energy Connects. This blogger's week also included plenty of other missives via the keyboard for Forbes and of course, via this blog.

All blog entries for Gastech 2025 may be found here. And here are selected Forbes copies in chronological order based on soundbites and insight from the event. 

• Trump’s Top Envoys Tell Europe U.S. Will Double Gas Exports In 5 Years, September 11, 2025
• Ditch Russia’s Oil For More U.S. Sanctions On Moscow, Trump Tells NATO, September 14, 2025
• OPEC’s Bid To Tame U.S. Shale Failed In 2014. Will 2025 Be Different?, September 16, 2025

More musings to follow soon. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

To follow The Oilholic on Twitter click here.

To follow The Oilholic on Forbes click here.

To follow The Oilholic on Energy Connects click here.

To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2025. Photo: Energy analyst Gaurav Sharma speaks on TRT World on September 9, 2025 © TRT World, September 2025.

Gastech Days III & IV: The natural gas-AI nexus & more

As Gastech 2025 entered Days III and IV, and the finish line approached, conversations and dialogues at the event slightly turned from how natural gas would power an AI driven future to how AI itself would serve as an efficiency and decarbonisation enabler for the energy sector, and by extension to hard-to-abate heavy industry segments. 

To this effect, for the past three years, the event's AI-Energy, Climatetech and Hydrogen content streams have been steadily growing alongside signature plenaries. 

The Oilholic is happy to report that this trend continues. Additionally, this year also saw an even higher number of AI exhibitors. And leading global experts also showcased the impacts of new energy solutions such as methane abatement technologies and AI-driven optimisation, while addressing their impacts on rising energy demand and increased electricity consumption.

Yours truly got into the thick of the action via three panels on equally profound subjects on Day III. The first panel was on the topic of decarbonising heavy industrial sectors with e-fuels. 

Fellow panellists included Marco Àlvera, CEO & Co-Founder of TES, Alessandro Bernini, CEO of Maire, Dr Andrew Wood, CEO & Co-Founder of CATAGEN and Steve Esau, Chief Operating Officer of SEA-LNG. We discussed how with the right policies, collaborations and workforce support, sustainable fuels can contribute significantly to building a resilient, low carbon future. While there will be challenges along the way, there will also be opportunities. 

The second panel's topic was all about the unlocking the potential of low consumption AI technologies to accelerate energy transition goals. 

Panellists who joined yours truly for this panel included Uwa Airhiavbere, CCO - Worldwide Energy & Resources at Microsoft, Henri Domenach, Global Head - Energy Management of ENGIE, Parisa Bardouni, SVP & CTO of Aker Solutions, and Manoj Narender Madnani, MD - International at MARA.

Over an engaging and lively post-lunch exchange, we discussed how to activate low energy consumption, high impact AI technologies to deliver on the decarbonisation promise of generative AI.

And third and final panel that brought Day III's proceedings to a close for both the wider event, and this blogger, was on fostering full value chain collaboration to strengthen the market for scalable climate technologies. 

The panellists for this one included Guido D'Aloisio, CCO of Saipem, Yair Reem, Co-Founder & Partner at Extantia Capital, Charlie Sanchez, President - Infrastructure Advisory at Black & Veatch, and Dr. Ahmed El Sherbiny, VP - Energy Transition Fund at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. 

This one dear readers was all about plotting a roadmap for fostering the very sort of collaboration that translates ambition into tangible market impact.

Moving on from the penultimate day to the final morning - on Day IV - it was revealed that this year's Gastech saw nearly 50,000 visitors and attendees from over 150 countries, as this international event grows bigger by the year.

Additionally, next year's host city would be Bangkok, Thailand, as the event rotates back from Europe to Asia, the continent with a burgeoning natural gas demand. Well that's a wrap from Gastech 2025. It's been a memorable, insightful and engaging week out here in Milan. To be continued in Bangkok in 2026. Arrivederci for now. More musings to follow. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

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To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2025. 

Gastech Days I & II: Powering a sustainable energy future

The first two days of Gastech 2025 - which officially runs from September 9 to 12 in Milan, Italy - have flown by with senior energy officials, CEOs and global industry experts offering their viewpoints on "powering a sustainable energy future."

The tag line of the event was amplified on Tuesday and Wednesday by two top US officials, dispatched by President Donald Trump, to spread the word that energy, especially LNG, exports from the States will be a stable and reliable for a power hungry world. 

That's as the proliferation of AI and hyperscale datacentres present the prospect of the world's power demand adding the entire consumption of Japan - the world's fourth-largest economy - by the end of the year to the world's current demand level. That'd be a total consumption load of 1,000 TWh, or more than double of what the planet consumed three years ago. 

Renewables simply cant meet that demand, and that's where LNG exports from the US come into view, according to Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior and Chris Wright, Energy Secretary. 

Both officials spent plenty of time at Gastech spread over the first two days, making a case for natural gas, and indicating that the US would double its natural gas production. 

Both officials also suggested that the US natural gas industry in general, and LNG in particular, were a force for good and a key enabler of the AI revolution. Here is the Oilholic's latest Forbes missive summing up the US pitch. 

Away from the US position, and prior to Washington's take dominating the goings-on at Gastech 2025, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Italy's Minister of Environment & Energy Security launched the event on the opening morning on behalf of the host country. 

“Despite the progress of the energy transition, gas will continue to be part of the EU's energy mix for decades to come. This is why the Italian government – while working to ensure that clean, safe and reliable technology such as new nuclear power meets future growing energy demand – is at the same time ensuring that gas supplies are boosted and regasification capacity is increased,” Fratin noted.

Other officials from the European Union, Nigeria, Hungary, and Türkiye, also discussed the crucial role of energy supply diversification, global cooperation, and resilient infrastructure in shaping an inclusive and balanced transformation. 

In particular, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó ruffled a few feathers by noting that his country does have alternatives to Russian oil and gas imports, but chooses to rely on Moscow for strategic, cost efficiency and infrastructural reasons, and not ideological ones. 

Senior industry CEO's also came calling. Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Italy's Eni, told Gastech: "We want to reduce emissions, but this is not achievable overnight. 

"You cannot do it by losing money or through subsidies and incentives. You have to make it affordable, because that is the economy - there is no other way."

Shell CEO Wael Sawan added: "Consistency of the regulatory environment is a priority, making sure that regulation incentivises one area but does not disincentivise others. 

"Everyone is rightly saying that we need to go to lower carbon products, yet we see maximum consumption of everything. We therefore need to broaden the perspective to say not what is good or bad, but to create the right incentives to allow the market to function."

And TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne warned the Americans were building too much LNG infrastructure. "We are facing many US projects. We will face oversupply for some years if all these projects come onstream."

Well into Day II the focus was firmly on the natural gas-AI nexus, as the Oilholic began his Gastech 2025 speaking engagements with a panel on achieving operational excellence through the application of AI. 

The panellists included Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Alebri, CEO of ADNOC Sour Gas, Olakunle Osobu, Deputy MD of NLNG, Michael Deighton, SVP - Operations at Kent, Fabricio Sousa, Global President - Worley Consulting & Technology Solutions at Worley and Andy Webster, Global Digital Senior Director at KBR. 

The engaging panel discussion offered actionable insights into leveraging AI for enhancing  system reliability, and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving energy landscape. That's as natural gas, hydrogen, and power networks face mounting pressure to enhance efficiency and resilience.

In step with the conference, Gastech's exhibition also opened its doors with a focus on supporting industry growth and collaboration, bringing in more than 1,000 global exhibitors and 20 country pavilions showcase a transformative range of products and services.

From hydrogen-ready equipment and next-generation LNG terminals to AI and machine learning platforms, the exhibition underscored Gastech’s role as the leading meeting place for executives, investors, and innovators to scale new solutions for efficiency and decarbonisation across the value chain.

Yours truly also took time out to discuss the Norwegian election results as they arrived on Day I of Gastech with Enda Brady on TRT World's Roundtable programme. 

Among various other macroeconomic facets, we talked about how Norway's hydrocarbon production is currently at its highest since 2011, by drilling and producing from the North Sea - the very same continental shelf it shares with the UK. 

Ironically while the UK is discouraging fresh North Sea production, Norway's centre-left government that's just been re-elected has no such hang ups. That includes exporting $30 billion-plus of natural gas to none other than their British counterparts, currently governed by a party also of a supposed centre-left political persuasion!

That's all for now folks. More musings to follow from Milan over the coming days. Keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'! 

To follow The Oilholic on Twitter click here.

To follow The Oilholic on Forbes click here.

To follow The Oilholic on Energy Connects click here.

To email: journalist_gsharma@yahoo.co.uk  

© Gaurav Sharma 2025. Photo I: Gastech 2025 which officially runs from September 9 to 12 in Milan, Italy. Photo II: Doug Burgum, US Secretary of the Interior, speaks at Gastech on September 9, 2025. Photo III: Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell, speaks at Gastech on September 9, 2025. © Gaurav Sharma, September 2025. Photo IV: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma moderates panel on achieving operational excellence through the application of AI on September 10, 2025. © KBR, September 2025. Photo V: Gastech 2025 exhibition floor on September 10, 2025. © Gaurav Sharma, September 2025. Photo VI: Energy Analyst Gaurav Sharma speaks on TRT World's Roundtable programme. © TRT World, September 2025.