Energy Matters Vol. 41 - , 2023

Energy Matters© is a series of publications created by Chris Sladen for the Australia, New Zealand & Mexico Business Council (ANZMEX).  Chris has a long association with ANZMEX and is the mind behind the creation of the ANZMEX Energy Debate Series© and provides periodic insights via the publication of his Energy Matters. Our aim is that this series will keep readers well informed and develop a deeper understanding of one of the most important commercial sectors for Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 45  A cold shower

27 November 2023
By Chris Sladen

As we wrap up 2023 and prepare to send our reports and summaries to our bosses, Head Office, and fill out our performance appraisals, here are my four standout energy themes of this year, each shaping our energy future. Feel free to weave these into your reports.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 44  As easy as 1-2-3

1 September 2023
By Chris Sladen

The origins of the pub quiz date back to the 1950s. They quickly became an opportunity to test your knowledge in a friendly atmosphere, make new friends, compete against teams locally and nationally. The popularity of pub quiz nights grew rapidly and soon became weekly events, sometimes raising money for charity and special causes. Today there are hundreds of thousands of pub quiz teams worldwide. Pub landlords saw the benefits of creating a pleasant environment, a well organised quiz, and a respected quizmaster. Winners get prizes – typically more drinks!

So, I have created a pub quiz to test your energy knowledge of the Latin America & Caribbean region. You can always try these quiz questions out at your local pub, or perhaps at a dinner party, or even test your colleagues during networking drinks when at your next conference! You get 50 points for each and every correct answer.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 43 Mexico: A decade of change?

17 July 2023
By Chris Sladen

Mexico was, is and always will be an energy powerhouse. But how best to describe energy over the last decade? Was it a decade of change? Or perhaps not?

We could talk about energy reform, energy sovereignty, bid rounds, new discoveries, changes in regulations, resource potential, power blackouts. We could talk about people, and politics and projects – I could then add some personal anecdotes on all those! But I thought it is better to give you the numbers, and you decide – what matters and what has really changed?

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 42 What the tech?

19 June 2023
By Chris Sladen

It was music to my ears when a global energy investor came to talk to me last week. She said: “let’s discuss technologies that already exist. I want to invest in companies that can lead us to Net Zero”. Over a cup of coffee, she continued: “We need to act now. Which technologies can make the big shifts, gigantic changes in the way the world does energy?”

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 41 Out of shape?

2 January 2023
By Chris Sladen

Over-indulgence during the festive season? Again? One too many hangovers? A touch of mental anguish as yet again your promises of restrained celebration lie in tatters?

Unfortunately, this edition of Energy Matters will not help you get back in shape. But it will help you keep an eye on the top 10 big energy issues in 2023 and the upcoming elections that will shape the energy world:

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 35 Top of The (Energy) Pops

9 December  2021
By Chris Sladen

I have put together my Top 40 picks for this year’s festive season energy rock & pop music charts. If you are organising a festive party, here are some great foot-tapping sing-along classic records that you might put on the play list to get that energy party started. 

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 34 - 2022: The year of stabilisation?

22 November 2021
By Chris Sladen

As we hurtle towards year end, that means it is time to dust off the template for the performance contract and start filling in those 2022 targets, KPIs and deliverables. In 2020, management were understanding as everything around you turned upside down and gaping holes appeared in your performance contract. In 2021, they accepted that things were going to be uneven, some pieces might not work out, and that staff were battle-weary and run ragged by the pandemic, anxious and unsure about their future.  

But what of 2022? 

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 33 - Another fine mess

11 October 2021
By Chris Sladen

Perhaps the greatest ever catchphrase in the movies belongs to the actors Laurel & Hardy with the unforgettable: “Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into “. This catchphrase featured in 17 of their movies, often as the closing line to the movie. One of their earliest movies also took ‘Another fine mess’ as its title. If there is a phrase that sums up the current state of the energy industry it has to be ‘here’s another nice mess’. Within a few short weeks during late September and early October, the world of energy has evolved into energy chaos. A post-pandemic economic recovery has collided with the Energy Transition.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 32 - Under pressure

23 August 2021
By Chris Sladen

It was such a memorable song written by the rock legends David Bowie and the band Queen, and performed live at almost every Queen concert. Such meaningful lyrics and haunting music. The song’s title ‘Under Pressure’ no better sums up what the energy industry is going through, the need to change, the need to do better than the past, to evolve quickly, and that pressure is now starting to build. 

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 31 - Blow the whistle, we have reached half-time

14 June 2021
By Chris Sladen

Are you worried about your mid-year performance review? Probably you have not seen your boss face-to-face for over a year, you have been working off the kitchen table, and somehow you must present a convincing story that things are going better than ever! But what to say? It is always a tricky conversation, you must show you know what has been going on, that you are on top of the energy situation, and there is something better just around the corner. How to fill that awkward silence? Here is my 3-topic crib sheet of mid-year energy conversation fillers; please pick and mix as may be helpful:

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 30 - All things bright and beautiful

22 February 2021
By Chris Sladen

Supercomputers are nothing new to the energy sector. They are used to process seismic data for locating oil and gas, to optimise refinery runs, to analyse atmospheric circulation impacts on individual turbines in wind farms, analyse traffic patterns and fuel usage, or to identify reductions in carbon emissions at ageing power plants, to name just a few. Some energy companies even boast of having more computing power than the US military. But supercomputers are just one example of how technology can change the world of energy. There are many others. In Mexico, as we enter a new normal, what other technologies and know-how could give a big boost to its energy sector?

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 29 - Mexico's signals and signposts

18 January 2021
By Chris Sladen

A former colleague phoned me last week asking, “Chris, what do you think are the most important signals and signposts in the energy sector in Mexico in 2021? What are you watching closely?”. Here is what I said...

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 28 - Staying smart

5 January 2021
By Chris Sladen

No sooner has the year-end report for 2020 been submitted, now your bosses are clamouring for your 2021 performance contract! As we head into 2021, I have been wondering whether to change the title of Energy Matters to Really Matters. 

This is because 2021 will be all about what really matters – in the short term. What really matters is that staff are tired, battle-weary and run ragged by the pandemic, anxious and unsure about the future, their future, their kids future; there is no point bombarding staff with an impossible-to-achieve performance contract.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 20 - What should I say to my kids?

15 July 2020
By Chris Sladen

My kids all know that I worked many years for a big oil company, and they know that burning oil makes a lot of pollution. My saving grace, as they often remind me, is that our gas station toilets were always cleaner than other oil companies. The message from that is very simple; young people know that clean is better.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 19 - What a difference a decade makes

29 June 2020
By Chris Sladen

The unforgettable song “What a Difference a Day Makes” was originally written by Mexican songwriter María Grever in 1934. Made world famous by Dinah Washington in 1959, it has endured dozens of re-recordings, at least once every decade. In energy matters, a decade is sufficient to see the impact on a country of policies, investment, technology, demographics and aspects of the energy transition.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 18 - Winning without fighting
15 June 2020
By Chris Sladen

It is often said that the best victory is when the opponent surrenders of their own accord.

The energy transition is a battle already won. With many of the largest oil companies committing to reinventing themselves as energy companies with zero net emissions by 2050 or earlier, the path is firmly set. A conflict that began in the mid-1990s about climate change and reducing emissions is decisively over. It never became a war.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 17 - A house divided?
27 May 2020

By Chris Sladen

With so much focus on the oil price and whether oil supply can be trimmed to match the much lower demand due to the pandemic, I take the opportunity to look elsewhere at the impacts of disruption in the energy sector. Can the pandemic mark a permanent shift in companies’ energy transition strategies? It offers a rare opportunity to reset the global energy narrative. With the daily flood of oil news, and stories of pandemic-related economic chaos, the four energy topics below have by-and-large failed to make media headlines.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 16 - Towards the end?
4 May 2020

By Chris Sladen

As the global economy continues to unravel at a frightening pace, and oil prices fall into previously unseen single digits per barrel and in some cases negative numbers, many readers have asked: Is this the end of the oil industry?

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 15 - What happens when the price is not right?
6 April  2020

By Chris Sladen

What are the consequences of the oil price collapse combined with the fast approaching global economic catastrophe? The oil price has collapsed over 50% since the start of 2020. The price has reached lows not seen since the turn of the century. We are possibly witnessing the world’s worst ever oil crisis with demand collapsing as deep recession begins. How can Mexico’s energy sector best survive? Just how ugly can it get? There are plenty of indicators from previous recessions, price falls and demand shrinkage.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 14 - Breakdown or breakthrough?
8 March  2020

By Chris Sladen

Sometimes, things need to collapse or fall apart so that something better can be built in its place. It is not a pretty thing when something that was created, perhaps over decades, and was very successful becomes no longer appropriate or successful. As it collapses, it is sad to see.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 13 - It’s not fair, so what?
27 February 2020

By Chris Sladen

The energy sector, the world’s largest industry, has millions of decisions to make every day. There are hundreds of thousands of meetings in meeting rooms every day. The industry is rife with pressurising, bullying, humiliation, discrimination, intimidation and retaliation.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 12 - Turning this tanker around

6 February 2020

By Chris Sladen

The energy transition is gathering pace and big oil and gas companies are in the crosshairs as culprits for climate change, representing Goliaths from a fast fading era. The effects of climate change are increasingly evident with extreme weather records broken around the world in 2019, and 18 of the last 19 years the warmest on record, and concentrations of greenhouses gases are the highest in millions of years.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 11 - Mexico’s new year energy wish list?

6  January 2020 

By Chris Sladen

I received many messages in recent weeks from colleagues that said ‘Best wishes for 2020!’ So I replied to them by asking ‘What is your wish for Mexico’s energy sector in 2020?’