Let's Talk Energy

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.

Produced by Elliot Busby & Både Og.

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

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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 podcast@rystadenergy.com.
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.
Follow us on:
LinkedIn
YouTube
Instagram
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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. 

Produced by Elliot Busby & Både Og. 

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

Follow us on:

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YouTube 

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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. 

Produced by Elliot Busby & Både Og. 

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

Follow us on:

LinkedIn 

YouTube 

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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. 

Produced by Elliot Busby & Både Og. 

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

Follow us on:

LinkedIn 

YouTube 

Instagram 

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