Columbia Energy Exchange

Sergey Vakulenko, former Gazprom Neft strategist now at Carnegie, offers industry-insider views on Russian upstream and downstream limits. Tatiana Mitrova, CGEP expert on Russian oil and sanctions, analyzes production and pricing constraints. Erica Downs, CGEP China specialist, explains Chinese LNG, storage, and refinery responses. They discuss Russia’s short-term market gains, China’s coping strategies, pipeline vs LNG choices, and risks of global energy fragmentation.

Karen Young, Middle East geopolitics expert; Richard Nephew, Iran and sanctions negotiator; Anne-Sophie Corbeau, LNG and gas markets specialist. They discuss the regional military campaign and leadership crisis in Iran. They cover impacts on oil and LNG flows, Strait of Hormuz transit risks, market reactions, and potential conflict trajectories and Gulf state vulnerabilities.

Trevor Sutton, a trade and clean-energy policy researcher, and Richard Nephew, an expert in sanctions and economic statecraft, unpack a Supreme Court decision that limits presidential tariff authority. They discuss why the administration used emergency law for broad tariffs. They compare tariffs and targeted sanctions, explore alternative legal paths for levies, and outline implications for energy supply chains and clean-tech trade.

Alex Fitzsimmons, Acting Under Secretary of Energy and head of CESER, guides efforts to secure U.S. energy infrastructure against cyber and physical threats. He discusses evolving cyber threats, tools and partnerships for grid resilience, trade-offs between speed and security in rapid build-outs, the role of dispatchable capacity and nuclear, transmission priorities to lower costs, and reshoring critical supply chains.

Laura Holgate, former U.S. ambassador to the IAEA and national security expert on nuclear energy and nonproliferation. She explores nuclear innovation, safety, and governance. Topics include small modular reactors and new uses like powering data centers, the tension between faster deployment and regulatory rigor, export competition with state-backed vendors, and the strategic value of U.S. investment and safeguards.

Jigar Shah, clean-energy entrepreneur who led the DOE Loan Programs Office and co-founded SunEdison, discusses federal backing for nascent technologies. He covers how government loans de-risk first-of-a-kind projects. He examines grid reliability, utility incentives, manufacturing and where profitable emissions cuts already exist. He also talks about short-term fixes like batteries and efficiency.

Michael Webber, a University of Texas professor and former energy industry CTO, explains what's driving rising power costs. He discusses surging demand from AI and electrification, regional price differences, permitting trade-offs, and why faster builds matter. He also explores near-term solutions like wind, solar, batteries, and efficiency, plus lessons from Texas on resilience and regulatory choices.

Maxine Joselow, a climate policy reporter for The New York Times, and Josh Siegel, an energy reporter for POLITICO, delve into crucial energy issues shaping 2026. They discuss the rising electricity prices and affordability struggles affecting voters, while assessing the geopolitical impact of U.S. interventions in Venezuela and Iran. The duo also tackles permitting reforms, legal battles over offshore wind, and the EPA's new approach to cost-benefit analysis. Their insights reveal how these factors intertwine with upcoming midterm elections.

Anja Manuel is a foreign policy expert and co-founder of a strategic consulting firm, with a rich background in diplomacy. In this discussion, she explores the escalating great power competition between the U.S. and China, comparing it to pre-WWI dynamics. Anja highlights the importance of critical technologies like advanced chips and AI in this geopolitical landscape. She emphasizes the need for cooperation with allies on clean energy supply chains while addressing tensions with India and Europe, and she advocates for mandatory AI safety testing to mitigate risks.

Luisa Palacios, former chairwoman of Citgo Petroleum, delves into Venezuela's oil supply recovery amid recent political upheaval. Richard Nephew, a sanctions expert, discusses the legitimacy of working with interim President Delcy Rodríguez. Daniel Sternoff analyzes market reactions to the crisis, noting why oil prices remained stable despite turmoil. Together, they explore potential buyers for Venezuelan oil, the implications of U.S. foreign policy, and the broader geopolitical ripples affecting energy markets globally.