Venezuela just shook global energy. What happens next? | Energy Gang

Описание: The energy world kicked off 2026 with a geopolitical earthquake: the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In this first Energy Gang episode of the year, host Ed Crooks is joined by Melissa Lott from Microsoft and Amy Myers Jaffe from NYU to unpack what this means for global oil markets, and to look ahead at the places, people and technologies that will shape energy in 2026.

Venezuela sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves, but years of mismanagement, looting, and depressurization have left its fields in far worse condition than Iraq's were in 2003. Amy draws on her experience as a former expert on Iraqi oil fields to explain why Venezuela's recovery will be more complex—and why the geopolitical stakes extend beyond oil to regional stability and the threat to Guyana's growing production.

But Venezuela is just the beginning. The conversation explores the coming wave of US LNG exports that could double capacity by 2030, creating potential oversupply that might arbitrage away the longstanding price gap between US and European gas markets. The panel debates whether Chris Wright at DOE will accelerate AI infrastructure through federal control, discusses Laura Sweat's pivotal role at FERC in managing data center interconnections, and examines Xi Jinping's AI strategy ahead of China's next five-year plan. They also dive into the commercial debut of Form Energy's iron-air batteries, question whether 100-hour storage hits the right duration sweet spot, and yes—seriously consider whether humanoid robots might finally be ready for energy applications.

They explore:

Why Venezuela's oil sector challenges are deeper than Iraq in 2003
The near-crisis when Venezuela threatened Guyana that barely made headlines
How the US LNG export boom will reshape global gas markets
The impact of potential peace in Ukraine on natural gas oversupply
Chris Wright's priorities at DOE and the AI-energy nexus
Laura Sweat's challenge at FERC over data center interconnection policy
Xi Jinping's AI ambitions and China's next five-year plan
Form Energy's commercial iron-air battery deployment and the 100-hour question
Whether humanoid robots are finally crossing from science fiction to reality
Google's acquisition of Intersect Power and the "less talk, more steel" approach

In this episode:

0:46 Welcome to Energy Gang - first episode of 2026
3:56 Places to watch: Venezuela - the dramatic weekend news
5:04 Amy's deep dive: comparing Venezuela to Iraq 2003
6:58 The looting of oil field equipment and infrastructure damage
8:14 Venezuela's depressurized fields vs. Iraq's rotating fields
9:39 Heavy oil challenges and Chevron's operations
11:00 Near-term, medium-term, and long-term impacts
12:53 The Iraq 2003 parallel and US oil import dependence
14:12 Heavy crude refineries and the China connection
14:48 The Venezuela-Guyana military crisis that never made headlines
17:19 Ed's place to watch: US Gulf Coast LNG terminals
19:00 The export boom and who will buy all that gas
20:44 How peace in Ukraine could worsen oversupply
21:49 The US gas price advantage being arbitraged away
23:03 Low-cost gas vs. clean tech competition
24:13 People to watch: Melissa picks Chris Wright at DOE
25:38 Ed's person to watch: Laura Sweat at FERC
27:08 The data center interconnection challenge
28:52 Amy's person to watch: Xi Jinping and China's AI strategy
30:11 China vs. US approaches to AI development
31:04 China's upcoming five-year plan
32:03 Technologies to watch: Melissa on energy storage
33:01 Ed's technology: Form Energy's iron-air batteries
34:05 The 100-hour duration question and market fit
35:57 Melissa on diverse storage solutions as tools in the toolbox
37:59 Amy's technology: humanoid robots
39:31 Teaching robots like humans vs. algorithms
40:22 Hyundai's investment and Boston Dynamics
41:48 Ed's skepticism vs. autonomous vehicle success
43:17 First use cases: assembly line applications
44:35 Free electrons: Amy on the San Francisco blackout
45:32 AVs stopped dead and blocked traffic
46:01 Melissa's free electron: Intersect Power and "less talk, more steel"
47:44 Google's acquisition and on-site generation projects
49:16 Ed's free electron: Interchange Recharged
50:29 Thanks and closing thoughts

Guests:

Melissa Lott – Partner for Energy Technologies, Microsoft (speaking in personal capacity)
Amy Myers Jaffe – Director, Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab, New York University

Host:
Ed Crooks – Vice Chair, Americas, Wood Mackenzie

Links:
Energy Gang on woodmac.com: https://www.woodmac.com/podcasts/the-...
Energy Gang on Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
Energy Gang on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GT5BuD...
Ed Crooks’ Energy Pulse Blog: https://www.woodmac.com/blogs/energy-...