The Energy Forum

CES non-resident fellows Abhi Rajendran of Energy Intelligence and Skip York of Turner Mason & Co. join The Energy Forum to examine the state of global oil markets in 2025. Drawing on themes from the Annual Energy Summit (Panel: 1:15:49 – 2:20:39) and the latest Energy Insights Report, they discuss market flexibility, risk premiums, shale’s slowdown, and what to watch as prices test new lows heading into 2026.

The energy sector is evolving fast, and so are the opportunities for the next generation. In this episode of “The Energy Forum,” Michael Maher, chief of research operations at the Center for Energy Studies, and Nicole Van Den Heuvel, associate dean of students and executive director of Rice University’s Center for Career Development, explore how students are preparing for careers across oil and gas, renewables, consulting, finance, and beyond. They discuss what employers value most, how recruiting has shifted in a digital world, and the skills that set students apart.

This episode was recorded on August 14, 2025. 

Featured:

You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

In this episode of “The Energy Forum,” Center for Energy Studies nonresident fellows Abhi Rajendran, director of oil markets research at Energy Intelligence, and Skip York, energy economist and industry strategist, explore why markets look more resilient today than a decade ago, how supply chains have adapted, and the signals to watch as we move toward 2026. 

This year’s Energy Summit, which the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and Baker Botts will co-host on Oct. 7-8, will further examine resilience in global energy supply chains and the innovations shaping the industry’s future.

This conversation was recorded on Sept. 10, 2025.

Featured guests:

You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

This is Part 2 of our deep dive into the world of advanced recycling. In this episode, Rachel Meidl continues her conversation with Marco Castaldi, professor of chemical engineering at the City College of New York, to examine the science and policy landscape shaping the future of plastic waste management.

They unpack the major categories of advanced recycling and explore why these technologies are often misunderstood or mischaracterized. This episode looks at what it will take to scale advanced recycling responsibly and why nuanced, science-based decisions are critical for building public trust and resilient systems.

This conversation was recorded on July 7, 2025. 

Follow Rachel Meidl, LP.D., CHMM on X (@MeidlRachel) and LinkedIn.

You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Despite decades of effort, only about 9% of plastic waste is successfully recycled. The vast majority ends up in landfills or incinerators. In Part 1 of this two-part episode of “The Energy Forum,” Rachel Meidl is joined by Marco Castaldi, professor of chemical engineering at the City College of New York, to unpack the complex world of advanced recycling, also known as chemical or molecular recycling.

They discuss what advanced recycling actually is, how it differs from traditional mechanical recycling, and why it’s become such a hot topic globally, plus:

This conversation was recorded on July 7, 2025. 

Follow Rachel Meidl, LP.D., CHMM on X (@MeidlRachel) and LinkedIn.

You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

In this episode of “The Energy Forum,” we explore what’s shaping the global oil market as we head into the second half of 2025 and beyond. Center for Energy Studies nonresident fellows Abhi Rajendran and Skip York break down why oil demand surprised to the upside in early 2025, how OPEC+ is phasing out production cuts, and why non-OPEC supply growth is slowing. They examine the factors influencing prices through 2026 and what global demand might look like heading toward 2030 and beyond.

This conversation was recorded on July 22, 2025. 

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You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

The health care sector produces a significant amount of plastic waste, much of it non-contaminated and potentially recyclable. In this episode of “The Energy Forum,” Rachel Meidl, deputy director of the Center for Energy Studies and fellow in energy and sustainability, speaks with Peylina Chu, steering committee chair at the CPHI Sustainability Collective and former executive director of the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council, about opportunities for the industry to advance sustainability while maintaining patient safety.

They discuss the challenges of recycling medical plastics, the potential of advanced technologies, and how petrochemical companies can help drive progress toward a more circular economy.

Featured guest:

• Peylina Chu, https://www.cphi.com/en/about/about/sustainability-collective.html

This conversation was recorded on June 26, 2025.

Follow Rachel Meidl, LP.D., CHMM on X (@MeidlRachel) and LinkedIn.

You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

In this episode of “The Energy Forum,” Ken Medlock sits down with Julie Cohn, a Center for Energy Studies (CES) nonresident scholar and research historian, and Miaomiao Rimmer, CES research manager, to explore how the Texas electric grid is adapting to compounding risks from storms, demand growth, and new technologies. They trace the evolution of ERCOT, unpack the dynamics of solar inverters and grid stability, and introduce a new CES dashboard that visualizes 75 years of disaster exposure alongside population growth and critical energy infrastructure.

Key topics include:

• Why the Texas grid is an island — and why it matters.

Explore the dashboard: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/ces-data-and-research-visualizations.

Featured:

• Julie Cohn, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/julie-cohn 

This conversation was recorded on June 18, 2025.

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You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Conflict in the Middle East is shaking the global oil market. In this episode of “The Energy Forum,” Abhi Rajendran, a nonresident fellow at the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies and director of research and advisory at Energy Intelligence, speaks with Skip York, a Center for Energy Studies nonresident fellow and expert in global market dynamics and upstream strategy, about how escalating geopolitical risk has elevated concerns about global oil supply and is driving oil price volatility.

Together, they discuss this and more to facilitate a better understanding of a very dynamic market.

Topics include:

• What recent Israel-Iran escalations mean for global oil flows.

This conversation was recorded on June 16, 2025.

You can follow @BakerInstitute and @CES_Baker_Inst on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

This episode of “The Energy Forum” takes a deep dive into critical minerals and materials geoeconomics, a space where national security, industrial policy, and global competition intersect.

Featuring Michelle Michot Foss, Baker Institute fellow in energy, minerals, and materials; Gabriel Collins, the institute’s Baker Botts Fellow in Energy and Environmental Regulatory Affairs; and Vinod Veedu, assistant vice president of Rice University’s Office of Research, the conversation builds on a new Baker Institute report exploring how past wars and strategic competitions can inform today’s mineral supply chain challenges.

Read the report here: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/critical-minerals-materials-geoeconomics-2025-report

This episode was recorded on April 1, 2025.