Swati Dsouza

After two wonderful years at the IEA (what a ride it has been!), I am moving to the Asian Development Bank to work on planning, executing, and implementing just transition policies. :)

Feels like the world is getting used to wars and “peace deals” being announced via tweets…like it’s all just a click of a button. That’s not how reality works. On the ground, this ongoing war is still disrupting energy flows and has shut in around 11.5M bpd of production. Yes, oil prices are down, but let’s be clear, nothing fundamental has actually changed. #OOTT

Ouch. A standard estimate (ballpark) is ~ 10 mbd/ 10% of world supply is now off the market. Some elasticities were closer to -0.1, which implies a price hike of up to $100. This elasticity would put the price hike at more like $150 ... 1/2

The second order impact on base metals has not begun, but potential disruption of crude products will eventually start leading to short term price increases #CriticalMinerals #IranWar

The problem with fossil fuels is their intermittency 😅

People are leaving google reviews on the Fairmont Palm hotel in Dubai after the missile strike earlier today 😭😭😭

You have this bizarre world where US, Russia, EU and Israel just attack any countries they feel like attacking, and US and EU are worried about "Chinese aggressive policies".

Very early hours. Lot may change. So far on oil: 1) Oil loading continues KSA, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq 2) Tankers crossing Hormuz, but a few U-turning 3) A single report of explosions at Kharg Island (maybe the small Iranian navy base?) 4) OPEC+ meeting Sunday; KSA/UAE surge?

NASA has pretty much confirmed life existed on Mars. Life. On. Mars. And this won’t even be the top 10 news items of the day, forget the whole year. Even NASA’s tweet about this has fewer retweets than an average rage bait tweet by an edge lord account.

By studying samples analyzed by the Curiosity rover, scientists have taken another step toward understanding whether life could have ever existed on Mars. A new study suggests that non-biological sources cannot fully account for the abundance of organic compounds found in a sample collected by the rover. Dig into the details: go.nasa.gov/46AGzG5

AI can make work faster, but a fear is that relying on it may make it harder to learn new skills on the job. We ran an experiment with software engineers to learn more. Coding with AI led to a decrease in mastery—but this depended on how people used it. anthropic.com/research/AI-as…

This is…..incredible! AI agents poking and talking. I am at a loss for words at watching (and reading) this digital anthropology.

Everyone in energy talks about AI. But two other letters — perhaps more mundane — will be as important: AC. For the next 30 years, ten air conditioning units will be sold **every single second**. (From ADNOC CEO Sultan Al Jaber speech at #IndiaEnergyWeek)

I can't believe this is really happening. I feel sick to my stomach.

This is by far THE MOST interesting #Davos that I have witnessed. Geopolitics has taken centre stage in a way that it never has before. #Davos2026

On a six hour train journey today, I found myself sitting next to a middle aged man. After the initial pleasantries, we started discussing the upcoming elections in Mumbai. We agreed that the city's infrastructure is in shambles. We agreed that the common public has been priced out of the housing market. We agreed that the air quality of a coastal city ought to be better. But, he said, the problem is that there are too many Bangladeshis in Mumbai. "They run all the meat shops." He went on to explain how Mamata Banerjee has ruined Kolkata by apparently "allowing Bangladeshis in the city." The other day I laughed when I saw a pamphlet of a BJP leader, which promised a "Bangladeshi free Mulund." I heard that rhetoric in Bihar. I expect, not happily, to hear it in Bengal. But it's such a farce that even local body elections are now being contested by creating fear of a country that is over 1800 kms away from Mumbai. And the bigoted voters are lapping it up. After Zohran Mamdani became the mayor of New York, the Mumbai BJP chief said they won't let a Khan become the mayor of Mumbai. It's a sad turn of events for a city, which once had Yusuf Meherally, the man who coined the famous Quit India slogan, as its mayor. There is no dearth of issues to discuss ahead of the BMC elections. But the loudest voice is sadly the most bigoted. #BMCElections

Wrote a thing, in case anyone needs more thoughts on the subject of social media. frontline.thehindu.com/society/slop-a…

No. Participation under duress proves desperation, not consent. When every alternative is foreclosed, showing up doesn’t validate the system. It indicts it. The gig economy didn’t create work. It took existing work and stripped away every protection the labour movement spent 150 years fighting for. Payment by invisible algorithm. Penalties for weather, traffic, app errors. Deactivation without appeal. This isn’t employment. It’s a spot labor market where humans are disposable inputs and platforms extract value while accepting zero responsibility. Goyal’s evidence the system works? Workers showed up despite the strike. He calls this proof of consent, celebrates their “courage.” But when your choice is exploitation or starvation, that’s not choice. That’s coercion. This isn’t new. Indentured servants “chose” brutal contracts. Children “chose” 14-hour mill shifts. Sharecroppers “chose” perpetual debt. Company towns paid in scrip, and workers kept returning. Every exploiter in history makes the same claim: “They’re here, aren’t they? Clearly it works.” “Local law enforcement helped keep miscreants in check.” He’s openly bragging about using state violence against workers asking for dignity. A billionaire siccing cops on delivery workers, then expressing gratitude for it. Then the generational mobility con: “Delivery partners’ children, supported by stable incomes…” Ignore present exploitation, gesture toward hypothetical futures. The same logic that sustained every extractive system: suffer now so maybe your children have stability in twenty years. Meanwhile, these workers build no equity, own no stake. Wealth flows one direction: to Goyal, investors, shareholders. The state’s job is ensuring minimum standards, wage floors, social security, the right to organize. Instead, it provides none of this. When workers protest, it doesn’t mediate or investigate. It shows up to “keep miscreants in check.” If your largest “job creation engine” strips labor protections and pays poverty wages, you haven’t solved unemployment. You’ve rebranded desperation as entrepreneurship. The strike itself is the evidence. Workers risking deactivation, income loss, police violence for one day of protest tells you exactly how broken this is. Goyal’s real argument: a system is fair if enough desperate people participate. Consent under duress is consent. Police violence is “support.” Poverty wages are “stable incomes.” Exploitation is “progress.” This is gaslighting at industrial scale. Not innovation. Not job creation. The reconstruction of pre-industrial labor relations with a smartphone interface. We’re moving backward and being asked to celebrate it.

5 years back, @Sandeeppaii and I started @tieh_podcast with the aim of building a discussion platform for India's energy transition. With the backing of @gangadharpb, support of over 90 guests and thousands of listeners, we are 5 seasons strong! Cheers, thanks and stay tuned ✨

@sandeepssrin 42 is the answer... to the difference in years between the orwellian state and our state

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