Let's Talk Energy

Let’s Talk Energy and get an inside look at how US power producers are responding to surging electricity demand.

US power demand had been growing slowly for the last few decades but now electrification, re-industrialization and large-load data centers is pushing demand growth up dramatically, straining markets, the grid and the pocket books of consumers and putting producers at the center of some of the hottest issues in this year’s mid-term election.

CORRECTION: At 9:20 minutes - NRG estimates that its Bring Your Own Power (BYOP) activity will result in $500 million in annual earnings by 2029.

Related Analysis:

Data Center Report – 2026 (clients only)

Data centers and electrification test the limits of power delivery (available to non-clients)

PJM needs 8.4 GW of accredited UCAP in next auction to shore up reliability (clients only)

The big chill and the bigger bill: ERCOT hits historical power price spreads (clients only)

Gas Turbine Report H2 2026 (available to non-clients)

Related Episodes:

How data centers and natural disasters are pushing the grid to its limits

How AI is reshaping the way we build, run and secure the grid

Will power-hungry data centers overwhelm the grid?

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production. 

Let’s Talk Energy and look at the growing stresses to power grids from the growing amount and severity of extreme weather and wildfires alongside rapidly rising demand from data centers.  Keeping the lights on during natural disasters has never been more important as lifesaving services – and life in general- require more power and computing capacity than ever before. And that task is getting more difficult.

From 2018 to 2024, the number of major outage events each year - power cuts affecting 30,000 customers or 15% of customers in a specific US county - increased by about 40% to more than 6,500 annually, according to a March study from the US Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the average duration of these outages rose 23% to just under 12 hours.

Now grids are being asked to add a massive wave of new data centers. Globally, data center power demand grew 50% from 2023 to 2025 and is expected to almost double to just under 250 GW by 2030, according to Rystad Energy forecasts, putting unprecedented strain on the power system.

·      Can grids cope with the simultaneous stresses of increasing natural disasters and rapid demand growth from data centers?

·      How should big tech, utilities and regulators manage data center demand as well as supply from onsite generation during these types of events?

·      What is the outlook for improving the way grids function during weather-related stress, perhaps even leveraging the same AI that is adding to the stress in the first place?

Related Analysis:

Europe, US and India make up 60% of global grid investments next decade (clients only)

Data Center Report – 2026 (clients only)

How AI is reshaping the way we build, run and secure the grid, with Microsoft's Per Christian Honningsvaag: Let's Talk Energy Q&A (available to non-clients)

Data centers and electrification test the limits of power delivery (available to non-clients)

China's data center capacity set to top 60 GW by 2030, driving a doubling of power demand (available to non-clients)

Let’s Talk Energy and kick off our first episode back from our summer break with a look at the Permian Basin. The production trajectory in the Permian has been one of the single most important variables to understanding global oil supply – if not the entire oil industry – for much of the past decade. 

Permian production more than tripled since the start of the US tight oil revolution around 2014 and now sits above 6.6 million barrels of oil per day -almost half of US oil output – and well over 25 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas.

In the process, hundreds of companies sprang up, rapidly drilled, merged, drilled a bit slower and merged again as they sought to win over investors whose demands shifted from rapid growth to cash returns.

But the days of jaw-dropping production gains are over, and companies aren’t inclined to ramp up activity to fill the hole in global supply left by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

In this episode, we’ll look at:

How much affordable oil is left in the Permian and how long might operators be able to keep up current rates of production?

Which companies control the highest number of choice locations, and do they have enough to earn the confidence of investors keen to know if their cash returns are sustainable?

And what are the implications of the rising volumes of natural gas that are trading at much higher prices than they did in the past?

Related Analysis:

Permian Deep Dive Report (clients only)

The price of passage: How Hormuz recovery determines Brent’s future (clients only)

ExxonMobil’s Permian efficiency gains pay off with bumper quarter (clients only)

Sustained oil price signal needed to trigger shale supply response (clients only)

E&Ps pay premium for contiguous Delaware NM acreage in lease sale (clients only)

US shale braces for next consolidation wave as smaller players seek scale (available to non-clients)

Related Episodes:

How data center growth is slowing the US shale comeback

How the worst oil crisis ever recorded could end in energy abundance

Cheap no more: How rising demand is reshaping US natural gas

The next US shale hotspot: Western Haynesville, with Matthew Bernstein

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production. 

We're on summer break and back with new episodes in late August 2026.

That’s a wrap on the first half of 2026 and our 44th episode. Over the past 10 months, Let’s Talk Energy has surpassed 1 million views on YouTube, tallied more than 70,000 hours of watch time and totaled over 25,000 downloads across Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Thank you for spending your time with us 

We’re taking a summer break from early July to recharge. While we’re away, the full archive is there for the road trip, the beach or the river float. 

We’ll return in late August with new episodes dropping every two to four weeks while our regular producers are on family leave. We’ll be back to our regular weekly schedule in 2027. 

We’ve got a strong lineup taking shape for the fall, including some high-profile guests from major energy producers, supply chain giants and, of course, Rystad’s own expert voices. We’ll also have another dispatch from the sidelines of the Rystad Energy EMEA Summit in London in October. 

Got a question or a topic you’d like us to tackle when we’re back? Email us at [email protected]. 

Have a great summer and see you again in late August! 

Related Episodes: 

A few recent episodes worth catching up on while we’re away: 

How AI is reshaping the way we build, run and secure the grid, with Microsoft's Per Christian Honningsvaag 

How a decade of underinvestment is reshaping the global hunt for oil, with APA Corporation’s Tracey Henderson 

Why the world's cheapest oil is now its riskiest investment, with Olga Savenkova and Schreiner Parker 

How data center growth is slowing the US shale comeback, with Ryan Hassler and Roe Patterson 

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production. 

Produced by Elliot Busby & Både Og. 

Executive producers: Noah Brenner, Elliot Busby, Evodie Fleury-Greaker & Erik Means. 

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[Summer break] Let's Talk Energy will return with new episodes in late August 2026.

Let’s Talk Energy and try to understand how AI might be used to future proof the grid and what bumps we could encounter along the way.

Regulators and utilities worldwide are sounding the alarm about the impact of data centers on the stability of the electricity grid. But the same compute that is straining our power system can also improve efficiency and access diverse sources of power more easily. That efficiency, however, could result in more complex and critical decisions relying on AI, rather than on human judgment, potentially inviting questions about safety and cybersecurity.

Can AI alleviate the need for more physical grid infrastructure and defray some of the expense needed to make the system fit for the future?

How can a growing role for AI in grid management improve reliability, and how should we think about the threats from digital hiccups or malicious cyberattacks on our critical infrastructure?

And how is Microsoft looking at the potential for its own data centers to at least support – if not enhance – the way grids function today?

Related Analysis: 

Rystad Energy launches Spektra: the next-generation market intelligence platform, shaped by the clients who use it (available to non-clients) 

Fuel cell investment by data centers set to grow tenfold, reaching $30 billion by 2030 (available to non-clients) 

Powering the AI era: A special report from Reuters Insights and Rystad Energy (available to non-clients) 

Grid Equipment Report - First Edition (clients only) 

As gas turbine orders surge 75%, new market entrants eye growing AI demand (clients only) 

Fuel cell investment by data centers set to grow tenfold, reaching $30 billion by 2030 (available to non-clients) 

Data centers offer chance to boost green power consumption in China (clients only) 

China's data center capacity set to top 60 GW by 2030, driving a doubling of power demand (available to non-clients) 

Related Episodes: 

The AI arms race has a critical minerals problem, with Michael Walshe and Jeff Dickerson 

Will power-hungry data centers overwhelm the grid? 

Shell’s Peter Wood on AI, future energy scenarios and trade turning points. 

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production.   

Let’s Talk Energy and look at the growing resurgence in oil and gas exploration. Starting in the 20-teens, many oil companies began cutting exploration budgets and letting go or reassigning the people behind that work. The shift was driven by efficiency gains and the rise of vast US shale fields, but also pressure from investors and the uncertainty over the long-term demand for oil. Now, however, oil demand is expected to remain resilient, shale fields are showing their limits and investors are asking companies whether they are finding enough barrels to maintain their cash returns, exploration is back in vogue. But rebuilding an exploration portfolio doesn’t happen overnight and the industry as a whole is finding less oil and making fewer large discoveries than it used to each year.   

How has the exploration business evolved over Tracey’s career and what defines a successful wildcat today? 

How is APA Corporation, which kept exploring when others did not, looking at its prospects in places as diverse as Suriname, Uruguay, Egypt, and the Permian? 

Can new technology and new ideas help the industry break out of its discovery drought? 

Related Analysis: 

Global Discoveries Report – June 2026 (clients only) 

BP's UK exit looks credible as exploration strategy takes shape (available to non-clients) 

Technical evaluation agreements are reshaping global exploration entry (clients only) 

Newfoundland's new bid round hinges on policy reform to attract new explorers (available to non-clients) 

Discovered volumes in 1Q26 sinks to lowest first-quarter level in two decades (clients only) 

High-impact wells: Africa will continue to drive global drilling activity in 2026 (available to non-clients) 

South America’s next frontier: Wells that could reshape the Atlantic Margin (clients only) 

Related Episodes: 

Non-OPEC+ oil growth finds its engine in South America, with Radhika Bansal 

The next US shale hotspot: Western Haynesville, with Matthew Bernstein 

The looming oil supply challenge with Artem Abramov 

How Malaysia is looking to seize its upstream opportunity 

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production.   

Join us for our annual Summits in Singapore, Houston and London: https://rystad.info/4vj3TTe

Let’s Talk Energy and examine how, despite being an intensely competitive business, oil and gas is also a team sport. Companies frequently partner with others to gain access to new resources, spread risk and add specialized expertise.  

For years, there was a standard playbook for how different types of companies – big Western supermajors or giant national oil companies and everyone in between – would think about who they would partner with, where they would do it and why.  

Now that playbook is changing, driven by trends as diverse as rising geopolitical competition, more resilient oil and gas demand, increasing capabilities among national oil companies and demands from public investors that public players turn a tidy profit, even in tough times.  

How are the needs and abilities of national oil companies and Western players changing as they evolve? 

Is the war in the Middle East shifting the calculus of the region’s national oil companies when it comes to bringing in outside investors or its attractiveness to international players?  

Finally, what does this mean for how companies think about pairing up to secure not just the reserves they need but also the ability to produce them? 

Related Analysis 

TotalEnergies overcomes Middle East disruption, looks to Namibia (clients only) 

Mideast war puts Vaca Muerta's million-barrel promise in the spotlight (available to non-clients) 

Special Report: The Majors' Portfolio Investments (clients only) 

Kazakhstan expands exploration push with 30-plot auction as international interest grows (available to non-clients) 

Hormuz outage hits production but soaring prices support company cashflows (clients only) 

One NOC grew 70%. Another lost 17%. What separates the winners from the rest? (available to non-clients) 

Majors’ LNG growth aspirations hang in the balance as Hormuz crisis deepens (clients only) 

Related Episodes 

How Malaysia is looking to seize its upstream opportunity 

How the Middle East war is reshaping Asia’s upstream strategy, with Prateek Pandey 

Non-OPEC+ oil growth finds its engine in South America, with Radhika Bansal 

How oil majors are appealing to investors with Olga Savenkova 

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production.   

Let’s Talk Energy and dig into the companies that are drilling, fracking and producing oil and gas in the US shale plays. Oil and gas companies working onshore US are cautiously increasing activity to bring on more production, incentivized by the currently high prices for oil. While the price outlook remains highly fluid, the continued conflict in the Middle East and the need to refill the resulting 1-billion-barrel deficit in global storage levels is giving CEO’s confidence to marginally increase production. But, as many listeners know, oil companies don’t drill wells, hook them into pipelines, or do many of the other things that are needed to get oil and gas flowing out of the ground – they pay oilfield service companies to do that work.  

How much more equipment is needed in the market to meet projected demand from US shale players?  

What are the pinch points that could limit the ability of oilfield service companies or make it more expensive for operators to ramp up production?  

How have changes in the sector, including past consolidation and ongoing diversification into work outside the oil and gas industry, on things like data centers, changed dynamics in the market?  

Related Analysis:  

House View Report (available to non-clients) 

Iron Oak buys Signal Peak to become top frac sand supplier in Eagle Ford (clients only) 

Putting things in perspective: Data center investments now on par with renewables, oil and gas (available to non-clients) 

Service Price Inflation Report: Shale – 2Q 2026 (clients only) 

How the worst oil crisis ever recorded could end in energy abundance: Let's Talk Energy Q&A (available to non-clients) 

Prolonged Middle East tensions could drive Lower 48 D&C pricing up 20-30% (clients only) 

Related Episodes: 

How the worst oil crisis ever recorded could end in energy abundance 

Could Middle East conflict break energy supply chains? With Matthew Fitzsimmons 

How will Middle East conflict impact energy and the economy? 

Cheap no more: How rising demand is reshaping US natural gas 

The next US shale hotspot: Western Haynesville, with Matthew Bernstein 

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production.   

Join us for our annual Summits in Singapore, Houston and London: https://rystad.info/3SfZuBC  

Let’s Talk Energy and assess the possible long-term impacts of the war in the Middle East. The conflict has brought the geopolitics of energy and near-term market disruptions into sharp focus, as the world struggles with higher oil and natural gas prices and tighter supplies overall.  

But underlying fundamentals, which pointed to growing oversupply in both oil and, to a lesser extent, gas markets, persist despite war-driven distortions.  

And while no one can predict how long it could take for the US and Iran to reach an agreement to resolve the war, the two sides continue to negotiate and – at times – say they are making progress. 

How long could the war-driven shortages and price inflation that we see today persist after the US and Iran reach some sort of agreement to end the conflict and fully re-open the Strait of Hormuz? 

What changes to energy trade flows or policies could be more lasting and what shifts might be less durable as countries and markets digest this shock and steel themselves against future ones? 

Which factors will be most important to watch to determine how the world ultimately recovers from a massive shock to the energy system? 

Related Analysis 

House View Report – Third Edition (clients only)  

House View Report (available to non-clients) 

Qatar and UAE LNG outlook shifts with new House View scenarios (clients only) 

Middle East crisis delays but won't derail the renewable transition (available to non-clients) 

Navigator: A busy China (clients only) 

Related Episodes  

Energy insecurity is changing the case for renewables

Asia's oil scramble is reshaping crude markets 

Jet fuel markets and the Middle East war 

Why Iranian oil could be the biggest energy story of the decade 

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production.   

Join us for our annual Summits in Singapore, Houston and London: https://rystad.info/3PEAT8X 

Has the war between the US and Iran changed the outlook for the upstream industry in the Middle East, and how long could it take to bring back shut production? 

How are countries around the Gulf pursuing options to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, and just how much oil and gas could find alternative ways to market? 

Will this experience change the way international and national oil companies from outside the region look at investment there as they seek to replenish their own dwindling reserves?   

Related Analysis 

Gulf war leaves $58 billion repair bill and a global equipment crunch (available to non-clients) 

UAE’s first post-OPEC move – Double the Hormuz bypass by 2027 (clients only) 

Asia's Energy Buyers: Between a Rock and a Hard Place (available to non-clients) 

Iraq lands surprise Qurnain frontier oil prize amid Middle East shut-ins (clients only) 

Western majors’ Middle East portfolios take hit from Gulf crisis (clients only) 

Friction to fracture: UAE cuts free of OPEC – who wins, who loses, who’s next? (clients only) 

Related Episodes  

How the Middle East war is reshaping Asia’s upstream strategy, with Prateek Pandey 

Could Middle East conflict break energy supply chains? With Matthew Fitzsimmons 

Middle East escalation and the scramble for LNG, with Sindre Knutsson 

Let’s Talk Energy is a Rystad Energy Production.