Another CERAWeek has come and gone
Our DrivePath team recaps what we saw at CERAWeek 2025.
Electricity providers were surging. Natural gas producers and transporters had some swagger. Oil companies were swirling. Cleantech was in the shadows. And the energy “transition” was being restated.
If CERAWeek ‘24 was about learning how to spell AI, CERAWeek ‘25 was about figuring out how to power it. Electricity was the belle of the ball, buoyed by load growth, onshoring, and electrification. Even nuclear fusion was in the spotlight at a Wednesday dinner.
The previous day, Constellation Energy CEO Joseph Dominguez sought to calm nerves about the near-term impact of AI on energy demand, but urged industry leaders to start planning for the next few decades, and to ensure they’re taking advantage of AI to optimize their own businesses too.
“It’s critically important that we plant the seeds today for the technologies we’re going to need in the future,” Dominguez told the conference. “Any company in this space that is not thinking about AI is not going to be around on this stage 10 years from now.”
Natural gas, no longer a short-term bridge fuel, is now widely seen as a key power source for big tech’s energy-hungry ambitions as well as a geopolitical tool contributing to security and stability.
Policy whiplash and geopolitical tensions cast a pall over the oil sector. Tariffs, the economy, and the prospect of more OPEC production left more questions than answers.
In a sign of the financial times, cleantech companies saw their numbers notably drop off while data companies may have had their most robust presence to date.
ONEOK Chief Executive Pierce Norton noted the circular nature of the conversation around AI, from how it is deployed to support energy production to how data centers are powered, in what U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright called an “energy-intensive manufacturing industry.”
Perhaps most evident was a shift in thinking about the future of energy, with energy “addition” displacing energy “transition.” No less than the IEA’s Fatih Birol said, "There is a need for oil and gas upstream investments, full stop.” While some may discount the statement to political pragmatism, there’s no denying CERAWeek was a source of energy realism for anyone in search of it.
One notable reality is the enduring demand for coal in a world that is still short of energy. “China will probably burn more coal this decade than the U.S. did in its whole history,” said Judson Kroh, president of Robindale Energy, as quoted by Javier Blas.
Not to be outdone, newly installed U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of CERAWeek that the United States should be restarting coal-fired power.
The global energy system is experiencing dynamic change. Demand is rising due to many reasons, yet the fundamentals remain — affordable, reliable, cleaner energy is still needed and in greater quantities than before. Global emissions remain a legitimate issue, even if energy security is getting the attention. Solutions require partnership and compromise.
Energy Secretary Wright said the impact of human advancement on climate pointed to inevitable “trade-offs” of prosperity and environmental impact. He added that the energy-enabled benefits enjoyed by around 1 billion people on the planet would ultimately start to reach the other 7 billion, meaning demand for all forms of energy would continue to grow.
“We wear fancy clothes mostly made out of hydrocarbons. We travel in motorized transport. The extra lucky of us fly across the world to attend conferences.”
As always, it’s the conversations on CERAWeek’s sidelines that are the most memorable. More than anything, the week is the industry’s family reunion and it’s always a pleasure to reconnect with colleagues and old friends.
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