For this week's COBT, we had the pleasure of hosting Sasha Mackler, Executive Director of the Energy Program at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC). The BPC is a Washington, DC-based think tank that prioritizes one thing above all else: GETTING THINGS DONE. That's a mission we can all stand behind. The team at BPC work on what they've defined as critical policy issues for the US including health, immigration, and infrastructure to name a few, by bringing together all relevant stakeholders and finding areas of alignment for action. We were connected with Sasha a few weeks ago and think you will appreciate his background and perspective. We had a fantastic session! 

Sasha first provides key background on the BPC including their core mission, set of policy issues, and history. The Energy Program is the longest standing policy area the BPC has worked on and currently has ten staff members dedicated to the effort. In our conversation we also cover the necessity for the US to be well positioned in energy technology, why 2050 and 2030 are both important targets, where Sasha sees the possibility for progress after the midterms, Sasha's advice to COP 27 delegates including a reminder that the public sector cannot drive the energy transition alone, how to find a way to bring the oil and gas industry more fully into the policy conversation, the importance of educating the public on energy issues, and more. We wrap with Sasha's view of the world in the next ten years. 

Mike Bradley kicked us off with an update on commodity and equity markets, noting key themes from earnings and oil majors outperformance this quarter. He also flagged a few key events including the potential for windfall profits tax on oil companies and the release of two recent reports, OPEC World Oil Outlook 2045 and IEA World Energy Outlook. Colin Fenton expanded on the OPEC and IEA reports with a side-by-side look at both. You will hear him reference the interesting contrast of producers talking about consumers (the OPEC report) and conversely consumers talking about producers (the IEA report). Brett Rampal also joined today's session and added his power/electricity perspective to the discussion. 

Thank you, as always, for your support and friendship!