Podcasts - Oxford Institute for Energy Studies

In this latest OIES podcast, from the China and Gas Programmes, James Henderson talks to Michal Meidan and Vitaly Yermakov about their latest comment on developments in China-Russia gas relations. The podcast starts with an overview of a number of important moves involving Chinese purchases of sanctioned Russian LNG cargoes and the signing of new pipeline gas export contracts during the recent visit of President Putin to Beijing. The purchases of LNG from the Arctic LNG-2 project are assessed for their commercial and political impact, and we consider the implications for the further development of LNG trade and the...

In this latest OIES podcast, Michal Meidan and Bill Farren-Price talk to Michael Martin Richter about the complex trade-offs in Europe’s energy transition and the need to balance energy security, industrial competitiveness and sustainability. They discuss the key takeaways from a joint workshop organised by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and the Hanns Seidel Foundation UK and highlight a number of challenges facing Europe:

In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Mathieu Lucquiaud and Stuart Walker about their forthcoming OIES paper which comparatively evaluates the climate performance of using waste biomass for two rising practices: as input into energy-from-waste facilities coupled with CCS (EfW with CCS) or for the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). The podcast discusses the lifecycle assessment approach which the authors follow in their study and highlight key results including the net-negative emissions arising from both practices and other avoided environmental impacts. The podcast concludes with key policy implications and recommendations for the complementary development of both the EfW+...

In this podcast, Bassam Fattouh discusses with Paul Horsnell the latest developments in oil market and the outlook for the rest of this year and 2026. Paul Horsnell had a long career in commodity analysis as Head of Commodities Research for Standard Chartered Bank, Head of Commodities Research at Barclays and Head of Energy Research at JPMorgan. Before moving to banking, Paul was a senior research fellow at OIES and just recently he has been elected as the Chair of Board of Governors of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

The podcast addresses some key questions shaping the...

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Anders Hove talks to Research Fellow Dimitra Apostolopoulou about her latest presentation on electricity prices as part of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies annual Energy Transition Event in June, which focused on various themes, including assessing the pace of electrification in multiple sectors. In this podcast, they delve into the factors driving higher electricity prices and explore what can be done to bring them down, both to ease the financial burden on end consumers and to send the right price signals for the electrification of transport, heating, and industry...

In this latest OIES podcast Michal Meidan talks to James Henderson about his recent comment on the Bonn Climate Conference which was published in July 2025. In the podcast they discuss the role of the Bonn conference and its place in the ongoing climate negotiations, as well as the key themes on the agenda. They assess why the negotiations were delayed for two days, why the topic of finance pervaded all the discussions and what the outcomes mean for the outlook for COP30 in Brazil in November. They look at how the topics of mitigation, adaptation, the Loss and Damage...

In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Jack Sharples and Anouk Honore about the latest Gas Quarterly and their thoughts on the current state of the global gas market. Jack opens the podcast with a review of the current market looking at price movements over the past three months and assessing the key geopolitical and commercial factors which caused an initial decline and then as spike towards the end of June. Anouk picks up the story with a review of Europe gas demand, which has continued many of the trends seen in the...

In this podcast Anders Hove talks to Milo McBride and Ray Cai about EV and battery supply chains in the US in the wake of the passage of the new budget bill, and what these changes mean for US competition with China in this space.

Milo McBride is a Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Ray Cai is Associate Fellow with the Energy Security and Climate Change Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies. McBride’s focus is on battery metals, and he notes that while there are still US subsidies available for cooperation wi...

In this latest podcast, from the Gas Programme, Jonathan Stern talks to Katja Yafimava, Agnieszka Ason and Mike Fulwood on their latest paper on the EU ban on Russian gas. In May 2025, the European Commission published a Roadmap outlining various measures aimed at phasing out all Russian pipeline gas and LNG imports into the EU which was followed by a legislative Proposal in June. It stipulates firm prohibitions on importing Russian gas and providing long-term LNG terminal services to Russian customers to apply from 1 January 2026, with transitional allowances for existing contracts up to January 2028. The proposal also introduces comprehensive...

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to the Director of Research at the Electricity Programme and Senior Research Fellow Rahmat Poudineh about his latest paper titled “From Scarcity to Scale: The New Economics of Energy”. In this podcast, we begin by explaining how our energy system is shifting from an operating-expense model tied to fuel burn to a capital-expense model dominated by upfront hardware. Once a solar or wind asset is installed, each additional kilowatt-hour costs almost nothing, changing the economics of the energy sector. Next, we discuss how cheap, clean electricity is the...

In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Graeme Bethune about his latest paper on the Australian gas market and the policy failures that have led to concerns over whether there is sufficient supply for domestic customers, especially on the East Coast. After a brief introduction on the structure of the market, Graeme outlines the key state and federal policies which have led to mismatches of supply and demand in NSW and Victoria, where the regulatory burden has meant that upstream investment has been significantly delayed. Queensland has provided a source of imports but...

In this latest OIES podcast, brought to you by the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Patrick Heather about the latest in his decade long series of reports on the European traded gas hubs. After reviewing the key metrics that he uses in his analysis Patrick looks at the liquidity of the key gas hubs in Europe and highlights the dominant position which TTF has now established, as it essentially dwarfs the rest of Europe in terms of volumes traded. This does not make the rest of the hubs irrelevant, he points out but does mean that they are...

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou engages in a discussion with Charlie Wilson, Professor of Energy and Climate Change at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, and Dr. Yee Van Fan, Senior Research Associate at the same institute about their latest paper titled “AI’s Indirect Impacts On Climate Outweigh Concerns Over Its Direct Energy Footprint” which was part of the recent Oxford Energy Forum on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Its Implications For Electricity Systems. Charlie opens the discussion by presenting a taxonomy of AI’s impacts on energy systems, categorising them into direct...

In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Paulo Carvalho about key takeaways from their forthcoming OIES research paper on green steel standards and definitions. The podcast provides an overview of different terminology and examples used to describe low-carbon emission steel in the market today and evaluates reasons why complexity and divergence exist between different standards and regions. The authors also discuss results of interviews held with key industry experts including steel buyers over perception and demand for the green product, before concluding with recommendations for industry to overcome challenges and enable investment in low-carbon technologies.

In this latest podcast Michal Meidan talks to Anders Hove about some of the latest developments in China’s power sector. They discuss impressions from Anders’ recent trip to Beijing, insights on electricity demand and the latest (rather confusing) moves in power sector reforms. Michal and Anders also talk about the outlook for renewable deployment in China as well as the implications of electrification on oil demand.

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to Senior Research Fellow David Robinson and Independent Researcher Plutarco Naranjo about the Oxford Energy Forum (OEF) issue titled “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Its Implications for Electricity Systems”. In this podcast, we provide an overview the OEF and discuss David’s and Plutarco’s paper titled: “The AI arms race and electricity needs”. The conversation begins with a summary of what AI is and how Large Language Models (LLMs) contribute to an increase in data centre energy needs with their training and inference phases. Building on this, David discus...

In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Jonathan Stern and Maria Olczak about their latest research on methane emissions in the energy sector. Firstly, Jonathan outlines his thoughts on what progress has, or has not, been made since methane emissions became a focus of industry attention five years ago. He summarises his thoughts by outlining his four “A”s – awareness of the issue has improved, agreements have been signed underlining its importance, aims to improve the situation have seen targets created but achievements have been somewhat more limited and disappointing. Jonathan also discusses the impact of the Trump...

In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Nnaziri ihejirika about carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) as a carbon management tool and its role in the energy transition. The podcast discusses different definitions of CCU and of emerging carbon utilisation pathways, including biochar production, manufacture of concrete and aggregate materials, and production of e-fuels and e-chemicals. The podcast also highlights issues around storage permanence and interactions with CCS and carbon removal developments.

In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Bill Farren-Price and Jack Sharples about their latest research on the future of Russian gas flows. Bill first provides some context for the discussion in terms of the search for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the development of US-Russia relations, highlighting the possibility of sanctions being removed on Russian LNG. He discusses the potential impact of the arrival of LNG from the Arctic LNG 2 project, which has been hardest hot by sanctions to date, and considers the various incentives and price outcomes. Jack then considers pipeline...

In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Bill Farren-Price, Jack Sharples and Anouk Honore about the latest Gas Quarterly and their thoughts on the current state of the global gas market. Bill opens the podcast with a review of the current market drivers and the main catalysts of the recent decline, with a focus on the impact of US tariffs as well as more fundamental gas supply and demand. Anouk picks up the story with a review of Europe gas demand over the winter of 2024/25, highlighting the increasing volatility of gas demand in...

In April 2025, the China Programme published an issue of the Oxford Energy Forum on the topic of EV and battery supply chains. The aim of the Forum was to think about how other world regions are seeking to react to the rapidly increasing dominance of China in global battery and EV supply chains. In this podcast Bill Farren-Price talks to Anders Hove to get an overview of the key themes of the Forum. In particular, they discuss the implications of the Trump administration’s tariffs for EV supply chains in the US and Mexico, how developing world economies are nav...

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to Doctoral Fellow Anas Damoun about his latest paper co-authored with Rahmat Poudineh titled “Economics of Electricity Grid Interconnections: A Heterogeneous Markets’ Design Context”. In this podcast, we discuss the critical role of interconnections in the energy transition as well as analyse the numerous benefits, e.g., technical, commercial and economic, they entail. We differentiate between homogeneous and heterogeneous interconnections since they connect countries with different market structures. We provide insights into the magnitude of interconnection benefits that depend on their efficient utilisation, which is harder to achiev...

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to Senior Research Fellow Malcolm Keay about his latest paper titled “The UK’s Decarbonisation Objectives and the Role of Great British Energy” and the latest developments and key challenges of the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA). We start our discussion with the great progress the UK has made in its decarbonisation targets. We continue diving into the challenges of scaling up investments in renewable generation, storage resources, and demand-side flexibility, as well as the role of Great British Energy. We then focus on REMA and discus...

In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Anne-Sophie Corbeau about the EU’s plans for renewable hydrogen, with a particular focus on the industrial sector. The discussion starts with a description of the current state of the hydrogen market in Europe before defining the nature of renewable hydrogen in particular and explaining why it is being given such a high priority by the EU. The targets set in the RED III directive are then discussed, before we move on to the actions being taken by individual member states to implement them and the implications of the divergences th...

In this latest OIES podcast, brought to you by the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Kong Chyong about his latest paper on the EU’s decarbonisation plans and the implications for natural gas. Kong talks through five scenarios which he has modelled in detail and which focus on targets for future emissions, the implied carbon prices and the impact on gas demand in the region. The scenarios range from an aggressive “Accelerated Path to Net Zero”, mirroring the EU’s current plan to reduce emissions by 90% by 2040 before reaching net zero in 2050, to a much more conservative “Low Carbon Pri...

In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Dan Maleski about developments around the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), specifically discussing how the mechanism would be enforced in practice and concerns that importers into the EU and exporters in non-EU countries have. The podcast also reflects on on-going policy changes in CBAM that are aimed at mitigating risk of circumvention and resource shuffling by exporters into the EU.

In this latest OIES podcast Michal Meidan talks to Bryan Bille from Benchmark Mineral Intelligence about Europe’s need for cobalt as part of its efforts to achieve carbon neutrality and grow its lithium-ion battery industry, and the role of the DRC within that. Michal and Bryan talk about Europe’s growing demand for cobalt, how policies aim to develop new sources of cobalt and encourage domestic processing. They also discuss the challenges associated with market concentration in the DRC for mining and in China for processing the trade-offs European countries will have to make as they balance supply chai...

This OIES podcast is based on two articles in the Oxford Energy Forum No.143 on Green Industrial Policy. James Henderson talks to Michal Meidan and Anders Hove about their thoughts on China’s position in the energy transition and the role of innovation as part of its green industrial strategy. In the first part of the podcast Michal outlines her thoughts on why China now sits at the heart of the global energy transition and how countries in the West could, and perhaps should, address the questions of China’s dominance in certain green technologies and the minerals required in th...

In this podcast Anders Hove talks to Tom Moerenhout and Victoria Barreto Vieira do Prado about how Latin American countries are navigating the geopolitics of clean energy supply chains.

Moerenhout and Vieira do Prado, scholars at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), discuss the challenges Latin American countries face in moving upstream from minerals extraction to higher-value parts of the supply chain. While most countries with critical minerals are seeking to localize processing or battery materials production, this is likely to prove difficult in practice. In particular, minerals processing and cathode or anode production ar...

In this latest OIES podcast, brought to you by the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Jack Sharples and Anouk Honore about the analysis which they contributed to the latest Gas Quarterly, which is available on the OIES website. The podcast starts with a discussion of current pricing trends before moving on to consider key issues around gas supply via pipeline and LNG to the European market, in particular the impact of the shutting of the Ukraine transit route. Anouk then talks about the main drivers of European gas demand, with a particular focus on the increased volatility in...

In this latest OIES podcast James Henderson talks to Bill Farren-Price about some of the key themes that will influence energy markets in 2025. They start by discussing the potential impact of the arrival of President Donald Trump in the White House for a second term, focussing on likely geopolitical and economic outcomes and how they might affect energy markets. Following on from that theme they look at how US LNG might emerge as an even greater force in global gas markets and whether it may be used as a geopolitical tool. The discussion then moves onto the broader outlook...

In this latest podcast from the OIES China energy programme, Michal Meidan talks to Philip Andrews-Speed and Anders Hove about the policies and corporate strategies that have led to China’s centrality in new energy supply chains.

This podcast is the first in a series drawing on contributions to the December 2024 issue of the Oxford Energy Forum, Responding to the China challenge: Diversification and de-risking in new energy supply chains. The aim of the Forum was to unpack China’s dominance in new energy supply chains, assess how effective efforts to diversify away from China have been and t...

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Anders Hove talks to Research Fellow Dimitra Apostolopoulou about the Oxford Energy Forum (OEF) issue on storage titled “Powering The Future: Energy Storage In Tomorrow’s Electricity Markets”. In this podcast, we provide an overview of the OEF and talk about Dimitra’s paper co-authored with Rahmat Poudineh titled: “Coupling storage and renewables: in the physical or virtual world?”. We elaborate on the challenges of scaling up build rates of storage projects and the role of governments in supporting them. In particular, we discuss the co-location of renewable and storage systems and...

In this latest podcast, Michal Meidan talks to Linxiao Zhu about the evolution of China’s solar photovoltaic manufacturing sector, how it has responded to trade defence measures in the past and how it is likely to evolve with the rise of green industrial policies. Linxiao discusses the origins of China’s solar PV sector and the importance of entrepreneurs and manufacturing innovation, arguing that subsidies had a smaller role than commonly assumed. He also talks about how the trade conflicts of the early 2010s impacted the industry in China, the EU and the US. Michal and Linxiao then disc...

In this latest OIES podcast, brought to you by the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Katja Yafimava and Jack Sharples about the implications of the end of the contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. The podcast starts with a discussion about the conditions that would need to have been met for the contract to continue and why they failed to materialise and in particular considers the attitude of EU member states and the Commission. We then look at the impact of the closing of the Ukraine route and the loss of a further 12 bcma of...

In this podcast, Hasan Muslemani speaks to Karl Smyth about the role of the energy-from-waste (EfW) sector in the energy transition, specifically how carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can help decarbonize the sector. The podcast discusses the potential and readiness to retrofit EfW plants with CCS, including associated costs, before taking a deeper dive into the status quo of the sector in the UK. The podcast also evaluates different benefits of EfW+CCS, emphasising its capacity to generate valuable carbon removals, emission reductions and low-carbon energy, and highlights the role of public perception in enabling its large-scale commercialization.<...

In this latest OIES podcast from the Electricity Programme, Dimitra Apostolopoulou talks to Senior Research Fellow David Robinson and energy consultant Mike Tennican (prior Senior Vice President and Director at National Economic Research Associates and a Professor at Harvard Business School) about their latest paper titled “Electricity, Green Hydrogen, and the Energy Transition”. In this podcast we discuss the forecast roles for both green hydrogen and electricity in the energy transition their complementary as well as their competing relationship. We then discuss the challenges associated with the demand for green hydrogen and the most likely demand to be replacing grey...

In this latest OIES podcast, Michal Meidan talks to James Henderson about the outcomes of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. They discuss the key issues going into the COP and the extent to which they were addressed: James highlights the gains as well as challenges around financing, the controversy around the role of oil and gas, progress on methane emissions as well as the issue of mitigation and adaptation. In addition to reflections on what was achieved, James highlights the questions that were ignored and the looming challenges facing the COP process, especially following the election of Donald Trump in...

In this latest OIES podcast, from the Gas Programme, James Henderson talks to Anouk Honore and Jack Sharples about their latest paper on the winter outlook for gas markets. After a brief discussion the price rally in 2024 and the implications of the forward curve, the conversation then moves to the question of demand in Europe. In the power sector, gas is taking on a new and more volatile role as the back-up for renewable energy, responding to changes in wind and solar availability. The weather is also playing a role in the residential sector, where a colder winter is...

In this latest OIES podcast, Michal Meidan, Philip Andrews-Speed and Anders Hove discuss how Trump’s re-election is perceived in Beijing; they assess what tariffs could mean for China’s economic growth trajectory, how Beijing would adapt its economic support measures in response and the implications for energy demand. Michal, Philip and Anders talk about the implications for bilateral trade and investments in energy between the US-China and how this could re-shape global energy markets. They also discuss how Trump’s re-election will impact global climate action and on clean energy innovation.