As you may know, Gastech is currently underway in Bangkok, Thailand. To help us get a sense of the on-the-ground takeaways and sentiment, we had the pleasure of hosting our good friend Martin Houston. Martin is a longtime energy industry leader with decades of global experience. He currently serves as Chairman of Omega Oil and Gas, a Non-Executive Director of Energean, BUPA Arabia, CC Energy, and Singapore GasCo, and a Senior Advisor at Moelis & Company. Martin previously co-founded Tellurian, where he served as Executive Chairman until the company’s sale in 2024, and spent 32 years at BG Group, serving as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director. Mark Castiglione is also attending Gastech and joined us for today’s session. We were thrilled to host Martin and hear his perspectives on the global natural gas and LNG outlook, Asia’s growing energy needs, and beyond.
 
In our conversation, Martin and Mark share key themes emerging from Gastech, including energy security, affordability, and reliability, Asia’s role as the primary engine of global energy demand growth, and a more pragmatic approach to decarbonization. They discuss how Asian policymakers and industry leaders are focused on securing the affordable and reliable energy needed to support economic growth and rising power demand. We explore the global natural gas and LNG outlook, the growing importance of resilience and diversity of supply, the push to advance new U.S. FIDs, and the potential for continued demand growth in increasingly price-sensitive markets such as China.
 
We examine the intersection of energy and geopolitics, including growing government intervention in energy markets, the possibility of Russian natural gas eventually returning to Europe, U.S. natural gas resource depth, and significant gas development opportunities in Australia and Indonesia. We discuss ASEAN grid connectivity and the region’s increasing focus on energy diversification and cooperation, Iran and the Strait of Hormuz, European gas storage levels, and potential surprises for global energy markets. Martin highlights growing investment in infrastructure “workarounds” to the Strait that could reshape regional energy flows and expresses optimism that global natural gas demand and supply could ultimately surprise to the upside, despite continued geopolitical uncertainty and volatility. We greatly appreciate Martin for joining us during a very busy week in Bangkok.
 
In our upfront discussion, Mike Bradley noted that the primary themes in our lead-ins over the past several weeks have been elevated U.S. interest rates, heightened volatility in global oil markets, and below-average European natural gas storage levels. This week, however, another risk entered the spotlight: the AI-driven market scare, which has contributed to increased volatility and negatively impacted U.S. equity markets. In fixed income, the 10-year Treasury yield pushed above 5% for the first time since 2007. Markets are focused on Wednesday’s FOMC meeting, with a 25-basis-point rate increase broadly expected and investors watching Chairman Warsh’s comments for signals on inflation and further hikes.
 
In energy, WTI rose to ~$103–$104/bbl, partly reflecting damage to Saudi Arabia’s ~5 MMBpd East-West pipeline system. U.S. retail diesel prices have climbed to ~$6.25/gal, fueling debate over potential export restrictions. European natural gas prices also rose to ~$28/MMBtu, up ~200% year-to-date, as concerns persist over rebuilding storage ahead of winter. Mike wrapped by highlighting growing AI-related concerns, which contributed to a ~500-point decline in the DJIA. Recent comments from Anthropic’s CEO have raised questions in the minds of investors about the longer-term growth trajectory of the Mag 7 and the industrial, utility, and energy companies benefiting from the AI infrastructure build-out.
 
We hope you all enjoy the discussion as much as we did. Thanks again to Martin for joining and our best to you all!

Today marks 25 years since September 11, 2001. We wanted to do our part to remember the lives lost, the extraordinary heroism of that day, and the very best of humanity that emerged amid unimaginable tragedy. For this Special Edition COBT, we sat down with three longtime friends, David Trice, Terry Rathert, and Steve Campbell, to remember the events of that morning and reflect on an experience we shared firsthand. On the morning of September 11, 2001, we were having breakfast together at the Marriott World Trade Center, located between and connected to the North and South Towers, when the first plane struck.
 
In our conversation, we retrace the morning as we remember it: the first moments inside the Marriott, our exit south from the World Trade Center complex toward Battery Park, the collapse of the towers, becoming separated, and eventually finding our way out of Manhattan. We reflect on the instinctive decisions made in moments of extraordinary uncertainty, the courage of first responders moving toward danger, and the countless acts of kindness we witnessed from strangers throughout the day.
 
We also discuss how September 11 changed the way we thought about risk, safety, travel, and the world around us. Twenty-five years later, our memories remain remarkably vivid. We believe remembering and sharing these stories matters – not only to honor those who were lost, but also to remember the courage, generosity, and humanity that so many people showed that day. We are deeply grateful to David, Terry, and Steve for joining us for such a personal conversation and for allowing us to share our memories with the COBT community.
 
This was perhaps the most unique episode in COBT’s history. We hope you find the discussion meaningful and that it contributes in some small way to your own remembrance of the day.
 
We Will Never Forget.

Today we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Judah Cohen for a discussion focused on weather. Judah is a Director of Seasonal Forecasting at JANUS Research Group and a Research Scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work focuses on sub-seasonal to seasonal weather forecasting, with particular expertise in the polar vortex, Arctic climate variability, and the factors that drive winter weather across North America and Europe. We were excited to hear Judah’s perspective on the upcoming season, the evolution of weather forecasting, and how new technologies including AI could improve our ability to predict weather further into the future.
 
In our conversation, we explore the evolution of weather forecasting and Dr. Cohen’s career studying sub-seasonal to seasonal weather patterns, including the industry’s progression from historical analogs and statistical methods to increasingly sophisticated physics-based models. We discuss how satellite observations and expanded global datasets have improved our understanding of the atmosphere, as well as the limitations of historical weather data and where today’s models continue to struggle, particularly beyond the traditional one- to two-week forecasting window. Dr. Cohen shared his perspective on the growing role of AI in weather forecasting, the strengths and limitations of current dynamical models, and why better modeling of the interactions between the troposphere, polar vortex, and jet stream could meaningfully improve longer-range forecasts. We also discuss the respective roles of academia, government forecasting centers, and private-sector companies in advancing the next generation of weather modeling.
 
We examine upcoming winter outlooks and the implications of a potentially historic “Super El Niño.” Dr. Cohen explains why El Niño’s influence on winter weather is not necessarily linear and cautioned against assuming that an exceptionally strong El Niño guarantees an exceptionally warm winter. We explore his research linking Siberian snow cover to disruptions of the polar vortex and colder conditions in eastern North America as well as the potential for episodic cold and snow even during an otherwise mild winter. We cover the outlook for Europe, where natural gas storage levels make winter weather particularly consequential, and the difficulty of using El Niño alone to reliably forecast European conditions. We also touch on how an unexpected, multi-week cold snap could materially affect natural gas demand and prices, highlighting the significant implications of improving weather forecasting for energy markets and preparedness for extreme winter events.
 
Mike Bradley opened the discussion by noting that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) fell ~600 points this week as investors grappled with higher oil prices and rising U.S. bond yields. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to ~4.8%, while the 30-year reached ~5.25%. With August CPI and PPI reports due later this week, Mike noted that inflation data could play an important role in shaping interest rate policy at the Sept. 16 FOMC meeting. Turning to energy markets, WTI crude oil increased ~$2/bbl to ~$94/bbl amid renewed U.S.-Iran tensions, with reports of potential explosions on Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal. European natural gas prices also continued higher, reaching ~$26–$27/MMBtu and bringing year-to-date gains to ~180%, as concerns grow over Europe’s ability to replenish storage ahead of the winter heating season.
 
Mike wrapped by highlighting the Barclays Energy-Power Conference in New York City, which he is attending this week. Based on his initial meetings, he noted a more constructive tone among companies and investors, with growing optimism around the energy and power outlook into 2027. Veriten Senior Advisor Deborah Byers also joined and added her perspectives and questions throughout the conversation.

Today we had the pleasure of hosting Todd Abbott, Chief Executive Officer of Tamboran Resources, and Dick Stoneburner, Chairman of Tamboran's Board, for a conversation recorded on location in Daly Waters, Northern Territory, Australia, a town of roughly 55 people. Tamboran holds approximately 2.8 million net acres across the Beetaloo Basin, and Todd estimates the basin contains roughly 200 Tcf of recoverable gas, enough to support 5 to 6 Bcf per day for a century. The company is dual-listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. We recorded on Tuesday morning Australia time this week as part of the company’s first gas celebration at the Shenandoah 2 pad.
 
In our conversation, Todd explains why a resource of this scale and duration is unique globally, in a region with rising demand and declining domestic supply, and in a country that has supplied LNG to Asia since 1989. He describes the Northern Territory as the most supportive regulatory regime he has worked with, including Texas, with a high bar on standards paired with real support in clearing them. We explore Tamboran's various strategic partnerships, including Liberty Energy, Helmerich & Payne, and Baker Hughes, all of which are investors in the company. We also discuss INPEX's recent farm-in to the Daly Waters joint venture. Todd covers the company’s cost structure in the field and also discusses gas prices which are roughly three times U.S. levels. As we wrapped up with Todd, we touch on the growing inbound interest from multinationals to Asian gas utilities, and his view that timing, not geology, is the biggest uncertainty he cannot control. A theme throughout the discussion with Todd was his comparison of this new shale development to others he has seen in his 25-year career.
 
Dick then takes us under the hood on the subsurface. At roughly 1.4 billion years old, the Beetaloo is the oldest petroleum system in the world, deposited when only a single life form existed, leaving 150 meters of continuous thermogenic shale from that one organism type. He describes petrophysical characteristics most comparable to the Marcellus and superior to it in many areas, and early well behavior that appears genuinely different, including one well on incline at the tail end of a 90-day test with no surface changes. He also walks us through how Tamboran found the over pressured areas, moving 60 miles south into the deepest part of the basin. We close with well spacing at Shenandoah 2, the beneficial use of gas allowance that lets Tamboran produce ahead of a formal production license, and the milestones Dick is watching, principally the first real decline curves and the testing of additional landing zones. Dick has been involved with the company since 2014 and, as a result, offers a phenomenal historical perspective.
 
Mike Bradley opened the discussion by noting that Treasury yields moved higher across the curve this week, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising to 4.8% and the 30-year Treasury yield exceeding 5.25%. The increase in yields was driven primarily by Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's more hawkish tone at last week's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which prompted investors to scale back expectations for future interest rate cuts. Turning to the broader equity market, he highlighted that the S&P 500 declined ~1% this week, pressured by higher oil prices and rising bond yields. With second-quarter earnings season largely in the rearview mirror, investor attention is increasingly shifting toward the September 16 FOMC meeting and the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.
 
Turning to oil markets, WTI crude oil prices increased ~$6/bbl (to ~$90/bbl) this week amid renewed conflict between the U.S. and Iran. Mike noted that the biggest development in the oil market this week was the announcement of a 65-billion-barrel oil agreement between the U.S. and Venezuela. Turning to natural gas, European prices continued to move higher this week, reaching ~$25/MMBtu (up over 165% year-to-date). The primary driver remains concern over whether European storage inventories can be replenished to "minimum" required levels before the start of the winter heating season in November. The energy sector advanced ~3% this week, supported primarily by stronger crude oil prices. Mike noted that M&A and strategic deals were a major theme across the energy and electricity complex, with four significant deals/transactions announced this week: SLB's acquisition of Kelvion for ~$4.0 billion; ONEOK's acquisition of Brazos Midstream for ~$4.4 billion; Comstock Resources' $1.65 billion cash transaction with SOCAR; and Fervo Energy's 396-megawatt power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google.
 
Mark Castiglione also joined the conversation, and with the help of Albert De La Portilla, he will be spending roughly a week in the Beetaloo basin understanding all the aspects of the play. The Tamboran team could not have been better hosts, and we sincerely appreciate this opportunity.

Today we had the pleasure of hosting Erin Price-Wright, General Partner in American Dynamism at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Erin joined a16z from Index Ventures in 2024, where she was a Partner focused on software infrastructure and applied AI. She previously served as Head of Product for Palantir’s data analytics and machine learning program. The American Dynamism practice invests in founders and companies that support the national interest spanning aerospace, defense, public safety, education, housing, supply chain, industrials, and manufacturing. We were thrilled to hear Erin’s perspective on the rapidly evolving intersection of AI, energy, and industrial technology.
 
In our conversation, Erin shares the story behind a16z’s American Dynamism practice and its early investments in companies including SpaceX, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Shield AI, and Skydio. She discusses how the firm’s conviction in the space developed well before the recent surge of interest in industrial technology. We explore the convergence of AI, supply chain vulnerabilities, geopolitical pressures, reindustrialization, and skilled labor shortages, which Erin believes are creating the conditions for the “next great American industrial build-out.”
 
We discuss physical AI and robotics, the potential to automate dangerous, expensive, and labor-intensive activities across energy and industrial operations, the challenges of deploying physical AI, and the importance of taking a practical approach to automation by starting with specific activities where the economics make sense and expanding from there. We touch on why venture capital is returning to energy and industrial technology, China’s advantage in deployment versus the U.S.’s strength in experimentation and entrepreneurship, and the importance of permitting and regulatory certainty.
 
We also examine data centers and the broader question of whether America wants to build, Erin’s thoughts for energy and industrial leaders looking to accelerate innovation within their organizations, and much more. Special thanks to Erin for joining! We look forward to partnering with a16z on our upcoming Energy & Industrial Technology Showcase in Houston on September 10.
 
Mike Bradley kicked off the discussion by noting that the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was trading at ~4.65%, down ~10bps on the week but still near its highest level of the year. Bond investors are focused on the ongoing Canada tariff dispute, Wednesday’s Core PCE inflation report, and Chairman Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech on Friday. Major equity indices finished lower last week but are modestly higher this week, with attention now centered on NVIDIA’s second-quarter earnings report Wednesday and its 6- to 12-month capital spending outlook.
 
Turning to energy markets, Mike highlighted that WTI crude oil had declined ~$5/bbl this week to ~$82/bbl following the Treasury Secretary’s announcement of “Operation Economic Outcast,” aimed at increasing economic pressure on Iran. EU natural gas prices rose another ~$1/MMBtu to ~$23/MMBtu, with storage levels remaining a concern ahead of winter. The energy sector was modestly lower this week but remains up ~5% month-to-date, led by refiners (+~12%). In power, electric utilities are down ~5% month-to-date, while IPPs, large-scale generators, and distributed generation providers are down ~10%–15% on average, largely reflecting higher interest rates and growing state-level opposition to data center development.

Continuing our California COBT Series, we are excited to share this Special Edition featuring PBF Energy. We had the pleasure of touring PBF’s 700-acre Torrance Refinery and met with Jared Wimberley, Refinery Manager. The facility has a nameplate crude capacity of 166,000 barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 13.8. It produces approximately 1.8 billion gallons of gasoline annually, representing roughly 10 percent of California’s gasoline demand. In addition to blending three grades of gasoline, the refinery produces diesel fuel, jet fuel, liquefied petroleum gases, coke, and sulfur. We were thrilled to visit the facility, meet members of the team, and see firsthand the scale and complexity behind a critical piece of California’s energy infrastructure.
 
In our conversation, Jared highlights the critical role the Torrance Refinery plays in California’s energy system, economy, and local community. We discuss the refinery’s nearly century-long history, its significant economic impact and high-quality jobs, the complexity and safety of modern refinery operations, and the importance of maintaining strong relationships with the City of Torrance and surrounding community. Jared shares his perspective on California’s challenging refining environment, including high power and operating costs, regulatory complexity, access to California crude, workforce development, and the implications of declining in-state refining capacity.
 
We explore the connection between reliable local energy production and affordability, including how energy costs ripple through the broader economy, from transportation and manufacturing to groceries and other everyday goods. California’s economy continues to depend on gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, electricity, and petroleum-derived materials, making the future of refining an important part of the broader conversation around the state’s competitiveness, energy security, and cost of living. We close with Jared’s perspective on the opportunity for California to balance its environmental goals with the need for reliable, affordable energy and a strong economy.
 

We are thrilled to share this Special Edition COBT. Continuing our California Series, we had the opportunity to tour the Diablo Canyon Power Plant and sit down with Maureen Zawalick, Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer at PG&E Corporation, and Matt Crozat, Executive Director of Strategy and Policy Development at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). Our visit was particularly timely as the U.S. Department of Energy recently awarded PG&E $271 million to support extended operations at Diablo Canyon, while Governor Gavin Newsom recently indicated he would leave the decision on extending the plant beyond 2030 to the next administration. Diablo Canyon produces nearly 10% of California’s electricity and is the state’s only operating nuclear power plant.
 
In our conversation, we explore Diablo Canyon’s history and critical role in California’s power system, the remarkable shift from plans to close the plant to extending its operating life, and how rising electricity demand, electrification, AI, and data centers are reshaping the state’s energy outlook. We discuss the broader nuclear renaissance, the importance of preserving and investing in existing nuclear plants, and the role nuclear power plays in providing affordable, reliable power and grid stability.
 
We cover the regulatory path for Diablo Canyon beyond 2030, the benefits of long-term planning for workforce retention and uranium procurement, and the plant’s impact on electricity affordability. Maureen shares PG&E’s approach to safety and risk management, including seismic safety, water use and environmental stewardship, wildfire, cyber, AI, and the importance of culture and processes in managing risk. We discuss Diablo Canyon’s relationship with the surrounding community and the importance of public engagement and outreach.
 
We end by looking ahead to new nuclear technologies and SMRs, changing attitudes toward nuclear energy at both the state and federal levels, California’s nuclear moratorium, and the need for durable, long-term energy policy. We also discuss the connection between affordable and reliable electricity, manufacturing, economic competitiveness, and where businesses ultimately choose to invest and grow. It was a fascinating discussion and an incredible opportunity to see Diablo Canyon firsthand.

We are excited to continue our California COBT Series with a discussion featuring Francisco Leon, President and CEO of California Resources Corporation (CRC). This episode was the culmination of a full day with the CRC team studying California’s oil and gas complex firsthand. We started at the Port of Long Beach, traveled north to CRC’s Elk Hills operations near Bakersfield, and ended the day in Santa Clarita, where we sat down with Francisco to discuss what we had seen and the broader outlook for California energy.
 
Along the way, we visited with Dean Persinger, Vice President of the Wilmington Production Complex, at the Port of Long Beach; Gabby Gonzales, Senior External Affairs Advisor, at Elk Hills to discuss CRC’s community engagement efforts; as well as Joe Jephson, Engineering Manager at Carbon TerraVault, and Brent Ilott, Vice President of Operations of the Elk Hills Production Complex. The day gave us the opportunity to see the breadth of California energy production up close and better understand the infrastructure and policies shaping the state’s energy system. It was a unique opportunity to see CRC’s operations firsthand and spend time with the people working across the company’s California footprint.
 
In our conversation with Francisco, we discuss the changing energy landscape in California and the state’s efforts to balance affordability, reliability, environmental priorities, and local energy production. Francisco shares his perspective on a more constructive environment for energy investment, including improved permitting activity in Kern County and the growing focus on the costs and energy-security implications of relying on imported energy. We discuss CRC’s evolution into a broader California energy platform and the significant optionality across its existing asset base.
 
We explore the history and future of CRC’s Long Beach and Elk Hills operations, including conventional oil and gas production, power generation, carbon capture and sequestration, and the proposed Golden Valley data center development. We cover CRC’s recently announced Crimson acquisition and the strategic value of ~2,000 miles of pipeline infrastructure across California, the company’s broader consolidation strategy following the Aera and Berry transactions, and how CRC could increasingly serve as both an operator and an enabler for additional capital, partnerships, and development in the state. Francisco also shares his thoughts on company culture, community engagement, and the importance of working constructively with regulators, political leadership, and local communities.
 
Mike Bradley patched in and kicked us off by noting that the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield was trading at ~5.3%, its highest level in two decades, despite relatively subdued inflation data the previous week. He highlighted the record pace of bond issuance financing the AI infrastructure buildout and the possibility that it could be competing with heavy U.S. government issuance for capital and contributing to higher borrowing costs. Turning to equities, both the Dow and S&P 500 have modestly declined this week as second-quarter earnings season winds down and investors look ahead to NVIDIA’s results next week.
 
In energy markets, WTI crude had risen ~$3/barrel this week to ~$85/barrel, largely reflecting expectations that the Iran conflict will remain an ongoing issue as the 60-day MOU expires. European natural gas prices have also increased to ~$22/MMBtu, up ~$2/MMBtu over the past couple of weeks. TTF prices are now up ~140% this year, with EU storage levels, particularly in Germany, well below seasonal five-year averages and below levels seen in 2021 ahead of the sharp increase in gas prices during the 2021-2022 winter.
 
The energy sector has posted modest gains alongside higher crude prices. With second-quarter earnings largely complete, Mike expects sector performance to be driven by oil prices, the broader equity market, and company-specific fundamentals. In power, he highlighted Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s executive order imposing stricter oversight on proposed data centers, including electricity and water-use guidelines and local approvals, effectively giving communities greater influence over siting decisions. Mark Castiglione joined us throughout the day and added his questions and perspective to the discussion.

Today we are thrilled to welcome Mike Fey, Co-Founder and CEO of Island.io, for a robust discussion on AI, technology, and the future of work. Mike is a seasoned technology executive and entrepreneur with deep experience in enterprise software and cybersecurity. Founded in 2020, Island is reimagining the enterprise browser as a platform that brings together access, security, and productivity, enabling employees to move faster while giving organizations the governance and control required at enterprise scale. We were pleased to hear Mike’s perspective on this rapidly evolving landscape.
 
In our conversation, Mike first shares Island’s origin and founding premise: to improve the knowledge worker’s experience while building security into the platform rather than adding it as an afterthought. We explore Island’s philosophy of enabling employees to move quickly and innovate within an enterprise framework of security and governance, extending controls designed for human knowledge workers to “agentic knowledge workers,” and using the browser as an enterprise platform to replace legacy IT infrastructure and potentially consolidate portions of the security stack.
 
Mike shares his perspective on why expectations for near-term enterprise AI ROI are often unrealistic and why successful adoption requires more than simply giving employees access to AI. We discuss the importance of creating a secure environment in which employees can experiment, build, share, and deploy AI while choosing the right AI model for the job and finding the right mix of sovereign, enterprise-controlled, and cloud-based AI. We examine how the valuable asset in AI may increasingly be the proprietary context, data, and workflows feeding models rather than simply the resulting work product. Mike explains how Island can give enterprises visibility into where data originated, who or what accessed it, why an action occurred, and how those capabilities become increasingly important as agents begin interacting with other agents.
 
We explore Island’s “tactically strategic” approach to enterprise adoption, starting with practical, self-funding opportunities to simplify the technology stack and reduce costs while building the foundation for broader AI adoption. Mike discusses M&A as one example, where establishing a secure shared environment can allow companies to begin realizing value from an acquisition before completing the full IT integration. We discuss what boards should be asking about AI, how AI adoption is currently increasing worker capability rather than simply eliminating jobs, and the challenge of scaling AI across large organizations. Mike describes adoption as a “crawl, walk, run” process and argues that most companies remain in the crawl stage. He explains why companies shouldn’t wait to establish AI capabilities and shares examples of organizations using AI not simply to improve existing processes but to transform their business models.
 
We end the session with Mike’s compelling view that AI adoption is a leadership obligation: companies should prepare their employees to remain capable and competitive in an AI-shaped economy rather than allow their skills to become outdated. It was a riveting discussion and we greatly appreciate Mike’s passion for the industry and his enthusiasm for the possibilities.
 
Mike Bradley kicked off the discussion with observations on the fixed income market, noting that the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield was trading at ~4.7% ahead of Wednesday’s CPI and Thursday’s PPI reports, which could help shape expectations for the Fed’s next interest rate decision. In equities, the DJIA and S&P 500 were each down approximately 30 basis points. With second quarter earnings season largely complete, Mike highlighted Intel’s $20 billion equity offering to fund capital expenditures, which was reportedly oversubscribed by more than five times.
 
Turning to energy, WTI crude oil had risen approximately $5/bbl this week to roughly $83/bbl, reflecting growing skepticism that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz will fully normalize in the near term. Mike noted that Iran-related policy has been a key driver of oil price volatility over the past two months. The energy sector had gained approximately 5% this week alongside higher crude prices. With second quarter energy earnings essentially complete, Mike wrapped by reviewing key themes across oilfield services, E&Ps, integrated oil majors, refiners, midstream, and power and electric utilities. Robby Kester and Veriten Senior Advisor Deborah Byers also joined and added their valuable technology perspectives and questions throughout the conversation.

This week we had the privilege of hosting Leif Johan Sevland, President and CEO of the Offshore Northern Seas Foundation (ONS), for a Special Edition. Leif is a Norwegian business leader and former politician with a distinguished career spanning public service and the energy sector. Prior to joining ONS, Leif served as the Mayor of Stavanger from 2005 to 2011. The ONS 2026 Conference is fast approaching, taking place from August 24–27 in Stavanger, Norway. The conference is held biennially and attracts 70,000+ global industry leaders representing over 1,100 companies and 35+ countries. We were honored to host Leif to preview this year’s conference, its major themes, and the trends shaping Norway’s, Europe’s and the world’s energy landscape.
 
In our conversation, Leif shared a preview of what attendees can expect at ONS 2026 and how this year's conference theme, Courage, is intended to challenge industry leaders to move beyond discussion and embrace decisive action in addressing the world's evolving energy needs. We explore Norway's unique position as both a leading oil and gas producer and an energy innovator, discussing how energy security, affordability, technological innovation, and shifting geopolitical dynamics are reshaping energy markets, investment priorities, and policy around the world.
 
We examine Europe's evolving innovation ecosystem, the accelerating adoption of AI and its growing impact on power demand, renewed interest in nuclear energy, and the convergence of energy, defense, and industrial technologies. Leif emphasizes the importance of open dialogue, global collaboration, and developing the next generation of industry leaders, and shares how ONS brings together policymakers, operators, investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators to exchange ideas and help shape the future of energy. The Veriten team will be at ONS, participating in a few panels, and connecting with good friends and with some of our partner and portfolio companies that will also be in attendance.
 
Mike Bradley started off the discussion by noting that two key market themes remained in place: lower oil prices and stronger equity markets. The 10-year Treasury yield remained range-bound, showing little directional movement. On the equity market front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up ~500 to 600 points on the day, with gains driven primarily by Amgen, Caterpillar, and Goldman Sachs. On the oil market front, downward pressure on crude prices continued, with WTI falling by approximately $1/bbl to around $75/bbl. The decline was driven largely by market optimism that the temporary pause in U.S. military strikes on Iran would remain in place. He noted, however, that oil prices appear increasingly oversold from a technical perspective, having declined roughly $10 to $15/bbl over the past one to two weeks. As a result, crude prices could rebound sharply should the current military pause end or geopolitical tensions re-escalate.
 
He concluded by highlighting key takeaways from Saudi Aramco’s 2Q earnings call, noting that management delivered a decidedly bullish message on the outlook for global oil markets. According to Aramco, oil markets are far tighter than many indicators/prices suggest. Aramco noted that global markets lost ~11mmbpd of supply because of the conflict and shipping disruptions; strategic reserve releases and inventory drawdowns have masked the true extent of the shortage; inventory data understates physical market tightness; global inventories have been heavily depleted and must now be rebuilt over several years; and it would take around 18 months and roughly 2.1mmbpd of incremental demand just to restore inventories to pre-conflict levels if conditions normalize immediately.
 
We were fortunate to also have Veriten Venture Partner Karl Liapunov join and share his insights throughout the discussion. Karl is the founder of Starting Cold and is the U.S. Ecosystem Partner at Startuplab, where he previously served as Head of Energy & Climate Tech in Oslo.