Former US President George W. Bush got things going on Monday night by highlighting his state and country's achievements in the global energy sphere at the Gastech pre-event gala dinner.
The Oilholic kick-started his Gastech 2024 speaking circuit journey on Tuesday as well, with India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri - a seasoned diplomat turned politician and a lively keynote speaker at international events.
Some panellists noted that natural gas is the most cost efficient energy source capable of delivering the round-the-clock, reliable power required by tech giants. Others said AI itself could chalk sustainable future pathways predicated on renewables.
Day II - Wednesday - brought further profound discussions on the energy transition and learning to do more (in terms of throughput) with less (energy). It is something the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) segment is taking pretty seriously.
The state of Texas is the US' top crude oil and natural gas producing state. It also has the nation's highest refining capacity by some distance and remains a wind power leader. As Q4 2024 approaches, the US remains world's largest LNG exporter and its largest crude oil producer.
However, as Day I of Gastech - which is formally running from September 17 to 20 - kicked off on Tuesday, energy bosses bemoaned the lack of clarity and consistency from Washington on policy matters pertaining to natural gas exploration and LNG permits. (Read full report for Forbes here)
Our fireside chat was titled 'Energy transformation through innovation and investment'. It also served as a curtain raiser for India Energy Week 2025.
Puri explained how India was managing the cyclical volatility in the energy market, its efforts aimed at improving energy diversity, investments in renewables and a call for changing the paradigm from a production-oriented approach to a more consumption-oriented approach. All at a time when oil prices are currently lurking around 2021 lows.
The event's exhibition floor also opened its doors on the first morning for the 4-day event, with 800 exhibitors and 20 international country pavilions. Overall 50,000 attendees are expected this week, with 7,000 delegates from 125 countries.
Later on Tuesday, yours truly also hosted a pivotal panel discussion titled 'Harnessing the advantages of natural gas to fuel the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.'
The panellists included Rebekah Eggers, Global Client Engagement & Innovation Director, Energy & Resources Sector, IBM, Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman & CEO, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Ken West, President & CEO, Honeywell Energy and Sustainability Solutions, Naser Al Yafei, SVP, Strategy, Sustainability & Transformation, ADNOC Gas, and Matthew Babin, Head of Energy & Natural Resources, Palantir Technologies.
The panel touched on the growing need for electricity - often and increasingly generated by natural gas plants - to power data centers and fuel the AI revolution. This is expected to drive a surge in natural gas demand.
It better be, for according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global power demand from data centers could skyrocket to over 1,000 TWh by 2026 – double the levels seen in 2022.
It is a subject area yours truly rounded up the first day of Gastech 2024 with a BBC Business Today interview with Sally Bundock. We talked about the complexities and opportunities of using natural gas to power the AI revolution which seems to be the most plausible near-term solution.
The Oilholic touched on the subject in a fireside chat with Chris Ashton, CEO of Worley, who discussed how contractors manage these variables in today’s operational landscape and are having to contend with a high interest rate and inflation climate in a very competitive industry.
Ashton also offered perspectives on how AI, new technologies and innovative approaches are revolutionizing energy networks, power grids and gas infrastructure, and how these advancements contribute to the efficient and cost-effective completion of projects to accelerate the path toward net zero.
That's all for now folks. There's plenty more to come from yours truly from Gastech. So keep reading, keep it here, keep it 'crude'!
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© Gaurav Sharma 2024. Photo I: Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center, the venue of Gastech 2024. Photo II: Gaurav Sharma holds a fireside chat with Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, India on 17.09.24. Photo III: Gastech 2024 exhibition floor. Photo IV: Gaurav Sharma on BBC World Business Today on 17.09.24 at 11:46 CDT. (Courtesy: BBC) Photo V: Gaurav Sharma holds a fireside chat with Chris Ashton, CEO of Worley on 18.09.24.
