Energy Matters Vol. 49 - 50, 2024

Energy Matters© is a series of fifty 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.

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ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 50 - The Last Edition

2 September 2024
By Chris Sladen

Not out!

This month it is 50 years since I headed off to University to study geology! And that was where my love affair with rocks flourished and my interest in energy and natural resources was born.

As part of my anniversary celebrations, in this article, I look back across 50 years and use data to identify what’s really changed, the winners and why. I cannot cover everything – I have picked out some themes which give insight to the energy transition, what can happen, and the future transition winners.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 49 - What is in your in-tray?

3 June 2024
By Chris Sladen

In Mexico, the votes have been counted. The next President and her incoming Administration will face many challenges in its energy sector over the next few years. To assist you understand these, here is my A to Z quick reference guide to Mexico’s energy issues:

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 48 - Midnight oil?

15 April 2024
By Chris Sladen

No, this is not an article about the end of the petroleum industry. Neither is it about peak oil. Midnight Oil are one of Australia’s most iconic rock bands. Many of their world famous songs and album titles contain links to energy – ‘Power and the Passion’, ‘Diesel and Dust’ and ‘Rising Seas’ to name a few. So, I was very fortunate to be Down Under over Easter and found myself humming many of their tunes. Theoretically I was on holiday but could not help noticing some aspects of the energy sector. Here are my observations...

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 47 - Fast & Furious

26 February 2024
By Chris Sladen

The Fast and Furious movies are high octane fast moving. They feature powerful cars, furious street racing, heists, spying and family relationships, great scenery and include excellent versions of hip-hop, R&B, rap, and pop tracks. Often the music is more memorable than the rev-head movie. A total of 13 films are planned. It is a marketing and advertising dream ticket for product placement with leading brands of cars & trucks, vehicle parts & equipment, as well as lubricants. Each movie generates upwards of US$ 100 million in product placement fees. And the cars never seem to need to stop at a gas station!

Here are my answers to some energy questions that readers sent in using the style of fast and furious...

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 46 - Wanna be elected?

3 January 2024
By Chris Sladen

The track ‘Elected’ by Alice Cooper in 1972 is what cemented my early passion for rock music and geopolitics. Later on, Mr. Bean re-recorded the track under the title ‘I want to be elected’ in the run-up to the 1992 UK general election; it raised vast sums for Comic Relief. Sadly, neither Alice Cooper nor Mr. Bean made it into Government, but I have been hooked on elections ever since; they are what glues together the world of geopolitics with the world of energy.

2024 is the Year of Elections. It includes the world’s biggest-ever elections, with 7 of the 10 most populated countries voting. The concurrence of elections and political cycles, creates a compound voting event never seen before. There are literally hundreds of elections – Presidents, Prime Ministers, Governors, senate, congress, members of parliament, state, mayoral, municipal & local. More than 50% of the world’s eligible voters, some 2 billion people spread across 60 countries, have the opportunity to change the world’s approach to energy.

Energy Matters Vol. 41 - 45, 2023

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. 36 - 40, 2022

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 40 It's all over?

12 December 2022
By Chris Sladen

As we wrap up 2022, here are four things I did not expect to happen in the world of energy this year, each one has a lesson learned:

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 39 Don't give away the future

4 July 2022
By Chris Sladen

Here is my energy manifesto to put the world on a path to using less hydrocarbons, supply clean energy, reach Net Zero, and create energy security for all. Every item can be done – it is not that difficult – and it is built around a desire to improve our quality of life and not make the environmental mistakes we have in the past.

Wherever you live, feel free to give a copy to those who want your vote…

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 38 Mind that Gap!

13 June 2022
By Chris Sladen

I travelled frequently on the London underground when I lived there in the late 1980’s. I always felt fear and panic when a train was approaching the platform. The noise, the gush of stale air, then the tannoy loudly announcing ‘Mind The Gap! Mind the Gap!’

My fear on hearing ‘Mind The Gap’ transfers into the world of energy. Whenever I hear of a gap developing between the amount of investment needed to maintain energy supplies, and the actual amount of investment occurring, then my worst fears reappear

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 37 Hot on the trail

21 February 2022
By Chris Sladen

As we head into a world of decarbonisation and electrification, geothermal is ideal base load heat and power for the Net Zero challenge. Many Governments are yet to voice strong support for geothermal whilst suitable regulation is often non-existent. However, the Western Hemisphere is richly endowed with suitable geology, skilled engineers, and energy infrastructure. A change in attitude combined with technological breakthroughs can see geothermal transform energy politics.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 36 Hung out to dry

2 January 2022
By Chris Sladen

Are you still struggling with that New Year’s hangover? Ears still ringing from standing too close to the fireworks display? One too many of those seemingly harmless end-of-year cocktails? Or regretting that extra glass of mulled wine? And then perhaps you had a few more drinks on New Year’s Day to shake off last night’s hangover because 2021 was perhaps best quickly forgotten?

Energy Matters Vol. 28 - 35, 2021

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?

E NERGY 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. 21 - 27, 2020

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 27 - Time for a recount

1 December 2020
By Chris Sladen

If you have not yet started your end-of-year report for head office or Board of Directors, I understand. So much has changed in 2020, there was so much impact, perhaps you maybe don’t know where to start? Soon we will all be looking back and remembering this as the year in which everything changed. During 2020, every energy company on the planet reviewed their operating model one way or another. It was also the year in which a new vocabulary took hold.

Here are my ‘Top 10’ energy terms and phrases that characterised 2020. This new vocabulary has become essential to know...

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 26 - Talking with the CEOs

2 November 2020
By Chris Sladen

I don’t know about you but during all these lockdowns I talk to myself a lot more than in the past. Conversations that took place years ago, repeat over and over again in my head. And I have many strange dreams, definitely more than I used to.

I had a grand plan to interview 4 or 5 CEOs from big oil companies who had committed to Net Zero carbon emissions and then write an article that compares their answers and insights. But I kept getting fobbed off. My Zoom appointments were always getting bounced, so in the end I decided to do a live interview with just myself. Plus I could do the whole thing in my pyjamas. Here is what happened...

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 25 - Pause for thought

26 October 2020
By Chris Sladen

Britain’s most popular radio program each morning carries a short feature, known as ‘Pause for thought’. In one format or another, the feature has been on the radio over 75 years and lasts about 3 minutes. It is meant to be a moment to reflect on life, the things people do, learn the consequences, and how to lead a fulfilling life. There are usually more than 10 million listeners each day; the overarching objective is to create a more caring society, to make the world a better place.

When people started using hydrocarbons over 150 years ago there was no pause for thought.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 24 - Who wants to be a millionaire?
21 September 2020
By Chris Sladen

In 1956, the year I was born, Cole Porter wrote the song ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’. Made famous by Frank Sinatra and Celeste Holm, the singers decide they prefer not to be wealthy and instead prefer just to have each other – meaningful relationships are worth more than money. Decades later the song title helped inspire the creation of a hugely popular TV game show. To win the show ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’, you need to correctly answer 15 multiple choice questions in a row.

What would happen if all the questions on the TV show were energy related?

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 23 - Food for thought
8 September 2020
By Chris Sladen

Ready to face a dinner party or barbecue? With lockdowns, shielding and a general reluctance to eat out for many months, like me, you are probably contemplating a nervous return to the dinner party circuit or the pitfalls of an autumn evening barbecue with your boss and their team.

Deprived of interaction in recent months perhaps it could be socially awkward. If you have been binge watching Netflix, Amazon Prime or boxed sets of DVDs, perhaps you are worried you will not be up to speed on the energy scene? Or nervous you cannot hold your own? There is nothing worse than making a stupid comment or getting caught out by some point-scoring energy know-it-all. Or having to navigate your way out of a discussion about some new energy technology which you don’t quite understand. With so much happening across the energy sector in the last 6 months, here are some top tips and facts to see you safely through the evening:

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 22 - Blowin' in the wind
17 August 2020
By Chris Sladen

No this is not an article about the merits of wind turbines, nor is it about 1960s pop culture. But it is about oil companies that wish to change course and reinvent themselves.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 21 - Now, how's that?
27 July 2020
By Chris Sladen

I had been making good progress of late during lockdown even though I have trouble sleeping. I had started to get my head around the new world of energy in which hydrogen is king, supported by solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and nuclear.

Energy Matters Vol. 11 - 20, 2020

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?’

Energy Matters Vol. 1 - 10, 2019

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 10 - 2020 Vision; Staying focussed
19 November 2019
By Chris Sladen

I was asked the other day ‘What do I expect to happen in the energy sector next year?’ The following is my summary of key features anticipated in both the world of energy, and for energy in Mexico in 2020.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 9 – Something in the air
30 October 2019

By Chris Sladen

At the most recent ANZMEX energy debate, the key question in the room was ‘Can Mexico achieve zero net emissions?’ There was no doubt amongst the panellists and the audience that ‘yes, Mexico can achieve zero net emissions’ but that Mexico is not yet on the right path to reach this

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 8 – The times they are a changing?

11 September 2019
By Chris Sladen

It is inescapable that I was born in London. It was 1956 and it was a significant year in the world of energy. It was the year of the UK Clean Air Act. This was a UK government ban on burning coal in cities designed to eliminate smog.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 7 – Can a plan really capture the future?
24 July 2019
By Chris Sladen

There has been much attention from the media and analysts on the new 221-page Plan recently issued by Mexico’s State Oil company. For me though, it was a more general reminder that the beginning of August usually marks the start of the annual planning cycle in major oil companies and energy companies around the world.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 6 - If it is under the ground then it is not at the surface!

9 July 2019
By Chris Sladen

At a recent energy conference at the Institute of Americas, a leading reporter from Mexico asked me to explain how much investment was needed to meet the targets for oil and gas production? I said that a reasonable estimate would be slightly over US$ 40 billion every year. It is an extraordinary amount of money, more than double what is currently being spent by both the State and private companies together.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 5 - It’s in the bag!

20 May 2019
By Chris Sladen

A visit to any beach can reveal the growing problem of plastic. Mexico is certainly no exception. Its odds-on you will find some form of plastic litter.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 4 - ‘So close, but yet so far’

15 April 2019
By Chris Sladen

A long time close friend who runs a private equity fund that wants to invest in Mexico’s oil industry messaged me yesterday, saying: ‘My investment funds are ready, has the energy reform been progressing well?’

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 3 - Everyone’s doing it, right?

21 March 2019
By Chris Sladen

A colleague from a US independent oil & gas company called me up the other day. His company has made a fortune for itself in Texas by drilling and fracking shale gas wells and helping lead the ‘shale revolution’. He wanted some advice on shale gas in Mexico. The first thing he said was “Why is Mexico not doing it? We are all doing it”.

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 2 - Will oil production go up, or down?

6 February 2019
By Chris Sladen

A few days ago, a leading energy lawyer in Mexico sent me the latest crude oil production curve showing the expected daily production rate to 2024. The curve predicts that Mexico’s crude production will be much higher in 2024, by almost 1 million barrels per day (1mm bopd). The lawyer’s question to me was very simple. Will Mexico’s crude oil production in 2024 be much higher than it is today?

ENERGY MATTERS © VOL. 1 - Energy matters, really!

15 January, 2019
By Chris Sladen

Just the other day, a friend mentioned that energy security has been a topic in energy debates in Mexico over many years. Every time the topic was raised, he lamented that the audience reaction appeared to be ‘yes that is an interesting academic topic but Mexico has enormous oil & gas reserves so it is not really relevant to Mexico’.