Robin Millican

Tune in tomorrow when I’ll be discussing today’s energy crisis created by the Iran war with @FareedZakaria on GPS @CNN.

The Economist has looked into rising electricity prices, and has come to the conclusion: don’t blame the data centers! Today's Chartbook Top Links just dropped with more:

.@JasonBordoff and Meghan O’Sullivan warn that the world is approaching “a new age of energy weaponization.” foreignaffairs.com/united-states/…

@noahqk What if I told you I had an idea for electrification AND cooperation

Advocates for more domestic production or electrification will always use global shocks to argue for preferred policies, but these are 2nd order solutions. More international cooperation/integration and less geopolitical conflicts are the ways to avoid these shocks.

When put together, China is getting 25x more "grid" per dollar investment. So when we talk about "cost allocation", maybe it first makes sense to talk about just plain cost! /6

So much energy geopolitics, a weekly show is not enough. Check out our new rapid response deep dive on key Iran-related energy questions like this episode’s look at what it would take to reopen the strait of Hormuz. Great work by team @ColumbiaUEnergy 👏

@ColumbiaUEnergy just launched a new page that has all our latest real-time analysis on the energy impacts of the US-Israel attacks on Iran -- what it means for oil markets, gas markets, and effects on major exporters/importers. Link below!

As an important footnote, there are some uses of oil and gas that would be extremely difficult if not impossible to substitute for -- oil and derivatives in jet fuel and as a chemical feedstock; and gas used for fertilizer and high temperature industrial processes.

It's been an eventful last 36 hours, with much speculation about what will happen in global energy markets. As of right now transit via the Strait of Hormuz — the narrow corridor through which roughly 20% of global oil consumption and a similar share of global LNG trade moves every day — is under threat from Iranian retaliation. Many vessels have stopped or turned around. (Interestingly some of it has to do with insurance. War-risk insurance premiums for tankers have reportedly spiked 50%+ and some policies are being pulled altogether.) What happens next for oil prices, I can't speculate... some estimates are conservative because no actual barrels have been lost yet, others are forecasting $100+. But this is a prime example of concentration risk, where a single chokepoint can have ripple effects on everything from gasoline to products further downstream like food. Though everything is evolving rapidly and we don't yet know what the economic fallout may be, I can't help but to look at this situation and ask myself why we continue to argue in the US about "good" and "bad" sources of energy. It seems eminently reasonable and logical to me that we should diversify our energy mix because it's just good risk management practice. We can't control the price of oil (or gas), even if we produce a lot; but we can control how much our economy is exposed to it as matter of practical national and energy security strategy. Diversification would mean we should be saying yes to: More nuclear. More solar + storage. More geothermal. More electrification of transport, industry, and buildings. More wires to deliver electrons to homes, businesses, manufacturers, data centers. More domestic production across the board. That said, intellectually honesty requires acknowledging that these alternatives do have supply chain risks too. China processes roughly two-thirds of the world’s lithium and nearly 90% of rare earths. It manufactures more than 80% of solar modules. Until very recently, Russia was the only commercial supplier of HALEU fuel for advanced reactors. The answer isn’t to swap one dependency for another. It’s to size everything in proportion to risk — fuels, technologies, and supply chains. Oil isn’t disappearing tomorrow. I’m realistic about that. But if 20% of global oil moves through a single corridor that can destabilize overnight, reducing our exposure to that vulnerability should be regarded as an apolitical strategic imperative. Optionality is resilience. And resilience is power. #energytwitter

Venezuela's oil is caught between massive reserves and major obstacles. CGEP founding director @JasonBordoff tells @BBCNews why US companies may—or may not—invest, how Maduro's capture could shift supply and prices, and what it means for Venezuelans & the world. Watch here ⬇️

IYKYK

Investors: JPMorgan says Venezuela has largest oil reserves JPM: That comes from an OPEC report OPEC: Our members self-report. Ask Venezuela Venezuela: We get that from PDVSA PDVSA: Hugo Chavez told us years ago to report that for prestige & now we'd look bad if we lowered it

🚨 The situation in Venezuela is rapidly evolving—with major implications for global oil markets. In our latest #EnergyExplained blog post, CGEP experts Dr. Luisa Palacios, @RichardMNephew, and @dsternoff unpack what this means: energypolicy.columbia.edu/qa-on-us-actio…

Travis and I undoubtedly have different policy views but I have always had great respect for how he models civil discourse/disagreement that is focused on ideas and not motivations. Which is also the point of his post here. More people should be like him.

@AndreasenJack You're doing great! According to me.

Is it I, with the universally panned, bad take wrong, or am I just victim to another dog pile by the worst people on Twitter? In fact, the fervor at which they tell me I’m wrong shows me I’m onto some deeper, more fundamental truth. I am a victim of my own great take, yet again

@AndreasenJack Thank you Jack, I'm also so excited we get to work together again!

I could not be more excited for this to drop. Robin is simply one of the best in energy, and I'm excited to work for and with her again.