Executives, thought leaders, and policymakers were set to meet at IHS Markit’s 40th Annual CERAWeek, a week-long energy conference in Houston from March 7-11, to discuss the energy sector’s transition to clean energy and innovation to curb the effects of our warming planet. But just before the conference kicked off, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves through the energy industry. Conference attendees like BP, ExxonMobil, and Shell announced they would withdraw from Russian oil. A U.S. ban on Russian oil, gas, and coal soon followed.
CERAWeek attendees grappled with the potential loss of Russian oil from the global supply. They discussed possible solutions such as increasing oil production in countries around the world and focused on a growing sense of urgency around renewables to manage volatility in the oil market. U.S. leaders such as Presidential Climate Envoy John Kerry and Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm emphasized the need for public-private partnerships to come up with solutions to both the climate and energy crises we are facing.
