ICIS - energy podcasts

The electricity blackout which hit the Iberian Peninsula at the end of April has triggered widespread debate about the causes of the outage and risks facing European grids. As an investigation has now been launched, energy expert, Aura Sabadus, spoke to Volodymyr Kudrytksyi, former CEO of the Ukrainian electricity grid operator, Ukrenergo, about the challenges facing Europe's electricity transmission infrastructure and the lessons it can learn from Ukraine's unrivalled efforts in keeping the grid stable even in the face of war-related destruction. 

ICIS's Gemma Blundell-Doyle, Energy Market Reporter and Eloise Radley, Deputy Crude Oil Editor, sit down to discuss the main drivers that could influence the global crude oil market in Q1 2025, including OPEC+ supply cuts and Trump's second US presidency. 

Why have charter rates for LNG vessels dropped so dramatically in recent months and what is the outlook for next year? Senior market reporter Clare Pennington and Rob Songer, LNG markets analyst speak with Americas LNG editor Fauzeya Rahman to break down what this means for the shipping market and when the outlook is likely to change. 

Wondering how the upcoming US election could impact US oil production and benchmark crude prices? Listen to Eloise Radley, Senior Market Reporter and Ignacio Sotolongo, Senior Editor at ICIS discuss this topic. 

Germany has announced a higher-than-expected increase in the German storage fee from 1 July, even though the levy is expected to be scrapped at the start of 2025. The announced short-term rise combined with Austria's OMV warnings about a possible gas supply curtailment amid a court case ruling lifted European gas prices in the second half of May. The almost simultaneous news triggered volatility across hubs as markets remain on edge over the regional supply outlook as the Russian gas transit agreement with Ukraine ends on 1 January 2025. ICIS models show that even in a scenario where flows were fully stopped this winter, European storage facilities should remain at levels that would be higher than the long-term average.  Nevertheless, markets remain sensitive to a number of risks described in this interview by Aura Sabadus with ICIS reporters Irina Breilean, Rob Dalton, Tatjana Jovanovic and Amun Govil-Lie. 

Eloise Radley, Energy Market Reporter, and Ignacio Sotolongo, Senior Editor at ICIS, sit down to discuss how geopolitics has impacted US oil production in recent years and how things could change if we see a new administration in November.

Deputy Crude Editor Cecilia Barreiro and Energy Market Reporter Eloise Radley sit down with Market Editors, Nazif Nazmul and Shruti Salwan to discuss how we can tackle the transport sector in a transitioning world. Are sustainable fuels the answer to decarbonising transportation? Or is there a lack of support in Europe? Join us as we address the current use of biofuels and Sustainable Aviation fuel in Europe, policy and challenges. 

Crude prices rose above $90/bbl for the first time this year last week,  after Saudi Arabia and Russia announced they will extend voluntary oil production cuts until the end of the year. Worries of tight supply could continue to drive oil prices higher, with some market participants even suggesting $100/bbl crude by the end of 2023. In this podcast, ICIS crude oil experts outline three things which could intensify an oil supply deficit in Q4. 

As European countries are looking to wean themselves off Russian gas imports, buyers have been looking for opportunities elsewhere, including in the Caspian region. A number of central and eastern European countries have expressed interest in buying gas from Azerbaijan but Italian buyers who are already off-taking volumes would like to increase imports. However, does Azerbaijan have enough resources to supply central, southern and eastern Europe? If not, will CEE countries compete with Italy over limited supplies? Italy and CEE senior gas market reporters Camilla Vitanza and Luka Dimitrov tell Aura Sabadus about the constraints and the options that are available. 

Corporate governance rules at Ukraine's energy state owned enterprises (SOEs) have been critical to market reforms and to helping the country secure a long-term gas transit contract with Russia. As Ukraine is preparing to receive billions of euros for the reconstruction of its war-torn energy sector, consolidating corporate governance rules are even more important as a guarantee against possible corrupt practices. However, in this interview with ICIS' senior journalist Aura Sabadus, Dr Andriy Boytsun, a corporate governance expert, explains that safeguards have been eroded even as pressures to tighten up the independence of companies such as Naftogaz, GTSOU or Ukrenergo are growing. 

In this episode, ICIS power editor Laura Mendes and Sakshi Chandra, UN Energy Engagement Analyst, for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) to discuss the 24/7 carbon-free energy concept and its role in the energy transition.

ICIS Director of Energy Analytics, Matteo Mazzoni and Matthew Jones, Lead Analyst, discuss the key takeaways of the electricity market design reform proposals.

SINGAPORE (ICIS) - Over 5.3m tonnes of Japanese long-term LNG contracts are up for expiry in 2023 at a time when last year's largest buyer plans to reduce LNG procurement and boost nuclear and renewable power generation.How will Japan's energy strategy influence the Asia Pacific LNG market?ICIS senior market reporter Yun Xie talks with Yuriy Humber, founder of Japan NRG and ICIS senior LNG Analyst, Joachim Moxon.

ICIS Director of Energy Analytics Matteo Mazzoni and Lead Analyst Matthew Jones discuss: what are the European Commission trying to achieve, current situation of PPAs, role of CfDs, main positions of the member states on key issues and what the outcome is likely to be.

In 2022, when Gazprom stopped supplies to Bulgaria, the country switched at short notice from nearly full dependence on Russian gas to complete diversification. It commissioned a new interconnector with Greece, tapped LNG imports and ramped up off-takes of Caspian gas. More recently it signed a deal for access to Turkey's infrastructure, which could open up a new supply route to southeast Europe.  However, Luka Dimitrov, senior energy journalist focusing on southeast Europe tells regional gas market specialist Aura Sabadus that the political instability combined with a number of controversial measures taken in recent weeks raise concerns about the future of Bulgaria's energy sector and that of the entire region. 

What could a potential price cap from the European Commission mean for Europe's energy markets? Join Ed Cox, ICIS global energy editor as he discusses implications with ICIS market development director Ben Wetherall and Richard Street, head of international regulatory affairs at Lexis Nexis. 

Ukrainian energy companies are facing one of their toughest winters ever, scrambling to repair infrastructure damaged by ongoing Russian missile attacks ahead of winter and secure financial resources to keep the energy system running. Despite the risks, European companies are importing and injecting gas in storage, taking advantage of falling gas prices and Ukraine's large available capacity. In the third interview of a three-part series,  ICIS Energy expert Aura Sabadus talks to Olga Bielkova, government affairs director of GTSOU and Sergii Pereloma, CEO of Ukrtransgaz about the outlook for the Russian gas transit through Ukraine and renewed European interest in Ukraine's gas storage. 

Ukrainian energy companies are facing one of their toughest winters ever, scrambling to repair infrastructure damaged by ongoing Russian missile attacks ahead of winter and secure financial resources to keep the energy system running. Despite the risks, European companies are importing and injecting gas in storage, taking advantage of falling gas prices and Ukraine's large available capacity. In the second interview of a three-part series, ICIS Energy expert Aura Sabadus talks to Artur Lorkowski, director of the Energy Community Secretariat, about the organisations efforts to coordinate equipment and financial donations for Ukrainian energy companies and the country's prospects for EU market integration. 

Ukrainian energy companies are facing one of their toughest winters ever, scrambling to repair infrastructure damaged by ongoing Russian missile attacks ahead of winter and secure financial resources to keep the energy system running. Despite the risks, European companies are importing and injecting gas in storage, taking advantage of falling gas prices and Ukraine's large available capacity. In the first interview of a three-part series, ICIS Energy expert Aura Sabadus talks to Dmytro Sakharuk, executive director of DTEK about the impact of infrastructure damages on the energy sector, the winter supply outlook and the prospect for cross-border trading. 

What did industry executives and market participants have to say about winter expectations, Russia and the lack of US LNG offtake agreements signed at Gastech in Milan?ICIS LNG Americas reporter Fauzeya Rahman chats with LNG markets reporter Victoria Tchen on what she reported on from the gas and LNG industry conference in early September and what could come next.

Amid already record high ICIS TTF prices and rising demand from Asia buyers, what will the LNG market look like this winter? ICIS LNG Americas reporter Fauzeya Rahman and Chris Rene, deputy editor of the Gas in Focus report, discuss the four key factors that will determine the outlook for the upcoming busy winter season. 

According to a recent ICIS long-term electric vehicles (EV) forecast European countries are on track to achieving the COP26 commitment to transition to 100% zero-emission car and van sales by 2035. ICIS deputy power editor Laura Mendes and energy market reporter Cem Bektas look at how this is achievable, discuss e-mobility developments in Europe and how it will impact power markets. 

As the US bans Russian energy imports, ICIS experts analyse the impact of rising sanctions on global energy markets, and the outlook for Russian gas flows to Europe.

European companies are stepping away from Russia, but Russian gas and LNG continues to come to Europe.For how long will this continue and what happens if Europe stops importing Russian gas?ICIS Global LNG Editor Ed Cox and Head of Gas and LNG Analytics Tom Marzec-Manser discuss the growing crisis.

As more intermittent sources of energy become key to the energy transition, battery storage is set to play an important role in balancing power grids across Europe. As the technology gathers pace ICIS Energy Market Reporters Laura Mendes and David Battista discuss the future of the battery storage market.

A year after the military coup in Myanmar and after a recent exodus of oil and gas companies, ICIS Global LNG Editor Ed Cox and Head of Asian LNG Analytics Alex Siow discuss what could come next for the country's energy market. They also discuss the 2022 ICIS LNG Global Supply & Demand Outlook. For more information, or to receive a copy of the Outlook, contact tom.marzec-manser@icis.com or ed.cox@icis.com.

As military tensions have been mounting on the Ukrainian – Russian border, observers are trying to understand whether gas flows could be disrupted as a result. ICIS senior journalist Aura Sabadus has asked Sergiy Makogon, CEO of the Ukrainian gas transmission system operator, GTSOU, and Szabolcs Ferencz, CEO of the Hungarian counterpart, FGSZ, how the situation is seen on the ground and what measures the operators are putting in place to limit risks.  

Energy market reporter Cecilia Barreiro and senior analyst Tamas Vargas -from major brokerage firm PVM- deep dive into the origins of the Russia/Ukraine tensions and discuss how rising geopolitical issues between Russia and the West over Ukraine might impact the energy market.  Tamas Varga shares his viewpoint with ICIS about the Russia and Europe energy relationship and why oil prices could continue rising.  

The Medgaz natural gas pipeline expansion was expected to be completed by early January 2022, but there are no announcements yet. ICIS market reporter Laura Mendes talks with Cem Bektas about the pipeline's current status and what impact the expansion will have in the Spanish gas market.

Unrest in Kazakhstan has brought a focus on the role of Central Asian gas exports to China and Russia. This comes as China looks to further diversify its energy supply mix and continues to sign new term LNG contracts.   Ed Cox, Global LNG Editor at ICIS, talks with market expert Aura Sabadus and energy reporter Yun Xie on the latest in the region and how importing markets to the east and the west have reacted. 

Hydrogen editor Jake Stones and Scottish Renewables director of policy Morag Watson breakdown the key outcomes of COP26 for hydrogen and its role in the energy transition by reviewing the main policy decisions and whether momentum towards net zero will remain.  

After a year of record-breaking news, ICIS LNG editors Ed Cox, Ruth Liao, and head of gas analytics Tom Marzec-Manser recap the key highlights and market drivers of 2021. From historic spot price surges to changing Russian gas flows, the team dives into how the LNG market responded. 

Energy reporters Laura Mendes and Diane Elijah discuss the COP26's outcomes and unresolved issues and what this means for limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

Hydrogen editor Jake Stones and independent adviser for hydrogen David Scrimgeour discuss the potential for the largest hydrogen market in Europe, Germany and also the potential for significant green hydrogen supply from COP26 host nation Scotland. 

The sharp recovery in oil demand has outpaced supply growth and resulted in a drawdown of global oil inventories, as coronavirus lockdown measures ease. The supply and demand balance is threatened, especially in a global energy crunch time. While unwinding its outstanding output cuts, OPEC+ has resisted pressure to further raise supply amid concerns of a potential growing oversupply of crude in 2022. Following the recent surge in energy prices, the ICIS global oil editor Sophie Udubasceanu talks to senior oil editor James Dennis about the latest developments in the market. 

Hydrogen editor Jake Stones and CCUS and hydrogen expert Tony Smith discuss the impact of the UK government's announcement to select HyNet and the East Coast Cluster for track 1 of its cluster sequencing programme, reviewing how the programme could shape the future of the country's market.

A key topic of debate at the moment in both Germany and Poland is the role of coal as a power source within each country's energy mix, with Germany on track to close down at least 2GW of coal by 2022. ICIS Energy market reporters Laura Mendes and David Battista talk about the progress of German and Polish coal de-commissioning programs and how this might affect power prices and other regional power markets in coming years. 

Energy market reporter Laura Mendes and lead hydrogen reporter Jake Stones discuss key developments in European hydrogen. This episode covers a recent announcement from INEOS to invest £1bn at the Grangemouth industrial cluster in Scotland to support blue hydrogen production, the UK's future of hydrogen, and what the German elections might mean for the largest demand base in Europe.

How is demand reacting to record LNG spot prices? In this ICIS podcast episode, LNG reporter Fauzeya Rahman chats with LNG editors Ed Cox and Ruth Liao on how global markets are reacting to record high prices and what to expect this winter. 

The German election for a new federal government and chancellor will take place on 26 September. A key topic of debate at the moment is energy policy. And the main policy proposals are promising to be more climate ambitious than the current outlook. ICIS Energy market reporter Laura Mendes talks with in-house analyst Roy Manuell to look at the possible scenarios of election results for the German market.  

European natural gas prices resumed their rally on news that Russia's Gazprom chose not to book additional firm capacity to ship gas via Ukraine in October. The news came at a time when near record gas prices are sending shockwaves across related industries from fertilizers to food processing or leading to a chain of bankruptcies in the energy retail sector. Senior editor Deepika Thapliyal and Richard Ewing, global ammonia market editor join energy journalist Aura Sabadus to discuss the impact of the gas price rally on global ammonia and urea markets. 

Germany will retire a large total of baseload power generation over the next decade, increasing the country's need for grid flexibility. The latest paper published by the ICIS analytics team covers potential routes for new gas capacity: “Filling the Supply Gap: Does Germany Need New Gas?” ICIS Energy market reporter Laura Mendes talks with analyst Roy Manuell to explore the findings on this paper. 

As corporates worldwide pledge to decarbonise their operations, guarantees of origin certificates are set to gain ground as an essential tracking tool. Green credentials have been trading since the early 2000s, but oversupply has long hampered their market consolidation. Now, new trends reveal that oversupply is being replaced by a shorter market for solar and wind technologies, although the presence of large amount of uncertified generation continues to pose risks. In this new episode of the ICIS Energy podcast, reporter Federica Di Sario discusses with Adam White, secretary general of RECS International, a Brussels-based trade association, how demand is balancing out oversupply on some technologies and why full disclosure is the only way forward. 

Crude demand across the world remains volatile with the spread of the Delta variant - nowhere more so than in the US market. Americas crude editor Ignacio Sotolongo and market reporter Andrew Putwain discuss the latest trends affecting one of the world's largest producers; including the bounce back in shale oil production, and the Atlantic hurricane season as well as the latest OPEC+ moves.

Carbon-neutral cargoes began trading in 2019 and will likely gain momentum moving forward. Who is participating and where is this new field heading? LNG reporter Fauzeya Rahman chats with lead analyst Alex Froley about the rise in carbon-neutral activity and its longterm outlook. 

At the end of June, the ICIS 2050 long-term power forecast was extended across the Nordics and the Baltic regions, for which different decarbonisation scenarios were identified. In this new episode of the ICIS Energy podcast, reporter Federica Di Sario joins in-house analyst Roy Manuell to explore the findings of the modelling expansion. 

Onshore and offshore wind expansion in Europe will be key to achieve the new climate neutrality targets from the Fit for 55 package. Energy market reporter Laura Mendes discusses key issues in wind energy development in Europe with ICIS analyst Roy Manuell and WindEurope Chief Policy Officer Pierre Tardieu. 

The launch of the UK carbon market was preceded by many speculations on its potential bearish impact on EUA prices. Over a month later, the opposite seemed true. In this new episode, economics student and ICIS intern Sabrin Jama explores the direct and indirect linkages between the two systems with carbon analyst Sebastian Rilling and reporter Eugene Poon. 

With global LNG spot prices extremely high, what markets are most attractive for US LNG? LNG reporter Fauzeya Rahman talks with ICIS global LNG Editor Ed Cox and LNG Editor for the Americas, Ruth Liao, on the current spot price rally, US LNG margins and the 2022 outlook for global LNG demand. 

As the first half of the year ends on a bullish note for German gas and power prices, market reporters Laura Mendes and Arlind Neziri look ahead to what the rest of the year could hold in terms of fundamental drivers.

At a time when a flurry of studies warn against the risk of fossil fuel stranded assets, investing in renewables is a necessity. Yet, many are the risks, but also the opportunities, that renewables investors should be aware of. In this episode, ICIS reporter Federica Di Sario discusses the main trends and expectations in the renewables space with Laurent Segalen, clean energy investment banker, managing partner at Megawatt X and Board Member of Zeigo platform and Janos Hettyey, PPA Manager at BayWa re.