Today we were thrilled to be joined by Dr. Alexis Crow, Partner and Global Head of the Geopolitical Investing Practice at PwC. Alexis is a Council Member of the World Economic Forum, a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Senior Fellow at Columbia Law School, and a Former Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council. Her research is focused on financial stability, the future of trade and globalization, global energy markets, and investing in real assets, technology, and the future of the consu...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 204
We were honored this past week to welcome back renowned author Walter Isaacson for a Special Edition COBT episode. Walter is a Professor of History at Tulane University and a Distinguished Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He is also a good friend and someone with whom we are always thrilled to visit. In his wide-ranging career, Walter has served as the Editor of TIME magazine, Chairman and CEO at CNN, and CEO of the Aspen Institute. As you may know, Walter has previously written on other fascinati...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr
Today we had the pleasure of visiting with Chris Birdsall, Director of Economics and Energy at Exxon Mobil Corporation. Chris joined Exxon as an engineer in 1996 and has served in several areas of the organization including manufacturing, technology, and commercial roles over the past 27 years. For the last five years, Chris has lead a team of economists, modelers, and researchers responsible for the research and data that shapes Exxon Mobil’s Global 2050 Outlook report ( linked here ). It was o...
Oct 25, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 203
We have a Special Edition COBT episode to start the week focused on recent events in Israel. Mike Bradley and I were pleased to be joined by Mark Medin, Executive Vice President of the UJA-Federation of New York, to discuss the organization’s efforts in aiding Israel, providing assistance to the Jewish community broadly, and sharing the UJA’s informational resources with all of us. Through good friends, we first learned about the UJA a couple of years ago and have been subscribed to their mailin...
Oct 23, 2023•49 min
We are pleased to share with you a very unique and special COBT episode that provides a glimpse into America’s proud energy past and highlights some of the great life lessons the American West and the oil patch can impart. Today we had the great pleasure of visiting with Hank True and Dave True of the True Companies. The True family is celebrating the 75th anniversary of True Companies, which was founded by Dave and Hank’s father, Dave True, Jr. in 1948. True Companies includes the following bus...
Oct 18, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 202
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Christopher Mohajer for a discussion centered around batteries and battery technology. Chris serves as the Director of Battery Technology Equity Research at U.S. Capital Advisors (USCA) and has a background in technical sales, having previously worked with Digatron Power Electronics, a supplier of battery test and formation equipment. Before that, he held several roles at the California Clean Energy Fund. Last year, Chris and the USCA team published a compreh...
Oct 11, 2023•58 min•Season 2Ep. 201
It was our honor today to welcome General David Petraeus (US Army Retired), Partner at KKR and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute. General Petraeus’ distinguished military career spans over 37 years of service, marked by six consecutive commands as a general officer including leadership of the US-led coalitions in both Iraq during the surge and Afghanistan. Following his military service, General Petraeus served as Director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the global w...
Oct 04, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Season 2Ep. 200
On Wednesday in Denver, we had the pleasure of joining Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. (UC Boulder) and Chris Wright, CEO and Chairman of Liberty Energy for a live discussion as part of Liberty Energy’s “Liberty and Energy” Presentation Series. Roger is a Professor in the Environmental Studies department at the University of Colorado Boulder and the author of “The Honest Broker” substack ( linked here ). Roger’s work focuses on the intersection of policy and governance issues related to science, technology...
Sep 29, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Today we were thrilled to welcome back Les Csorba, Partner in Charge of the Houston office and a member of the CEO and Board of Directors Practice focused on the energy industry at Heidrick & Struggles. Les has over 30 years of experience in executive search, leadership consulting, and executive coaching and this year marks his 25th year at the firm. The catalyst for today’s discussion is a recent report from Heidrick & Struggles entitled “Lessons from Ukraine’s wartime CEOs on leading t...
Sep 27, 2023•57 min•Season 2Ep. 199
We are excited to share this Special Edition with you. We had the opportunity late last week to visit with Jimmy Glotfelty, Commissioner on the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC). Jimmy was appointed as Commissioner by Governor Abbott in 2021 following an extensive career in the energy and power public and private sectors, including Founder of Clean Line Energy, Senior Policy Advisor to US Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham, Energy Policy Director to then Texas Governor George W. Bush, Le...
Sep 25, 2023•47 min
Today we were delighted to host Dr. Pippa Malmgren. Pippa is an experienced economist, author, and speaker, served as an advisor to President George W. Bush, and has advised the British Cabinet and the Cabinets of several Asian nations on economic policy. She has held several significant positions throughout her career including Senior Advisor to Monaco Foundry and Avonhurst, Board Member at Premios Verdes, former Managing Director at Bankers Trust, and the author of several award-winning books....
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 198
For today’s COBT, we had the pleasure of hosting Captain John Konrad, Founder and CEO of gCaptain and Author of "Fire on the Horizon." John is a highly experienced US Merchant Marine officer with a diverse background and has worked on container ships, oil tankers, and offshore supply vessels across the world. gCaptain is a leading global maritime and offshore industry news platform offering insights, information, and resources on shipping, offshore drilling, safety, technology, and more. We are ...
Sep 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 2Ep. 197
Today we were thrilled to welcome Jeff Merrifield, Partner and Head of Global Energy at Pillsbury Law, for an engaging nuclear-focused discussion. Jeff is a global thought leader on nuclear power with over three decades of experience in the energy industry. His current leadership roles in addition to Pillsbury include serving as Vice Chairman of the US Nuclear Industry Council and Chairman of the Advanced Nuclear Task Force, as well as serving on the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee. Jeff ...
Sep 06, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 196
Today we had the honor of hosting Mayor Sylvester Turner, the two-term Mayor of Houston, in the Veriten offices. Mayor Turner and a delegation of the city’s business and government leaders recently led a trade mission to West Africa visiting Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ghana. Their mission focused on finding new economic opportunities for Houston companies in Africa, continuing to grow the cultural and civic engagement between Houston and Africa, and expanding opportunities for overall collabora...
Aug 30, 2023•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 195
Today we were thrilled to welcome back Gabe Collins, Fellow in Energy & Environmental Regulatory Affairs, along with his colleague Steven Miles, Fellow in Global Natural Gas, with Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. Gabe last joined us on COBT in May of 2022 (episode linked here ) and has a fascinating background in the economics, policies, and geopolitics of Russia and China, as well as national security-related research and analysis. In addition to his position at the Bake...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 194
Today we had the very exciting and highly interesting opportunity to visit with Dr. Hongcen Wei, Commodities Strategist in Global Investment Research at Goldman Sachs. Hongcen joined Goldman two plus years ago from the University of Chicago where he taught math for many years and completed his PhD in Economics. Hongcen and his team have led the effort in re-launching Goldman’s global macro coal research coverage. We have long been interested in hosting a show focused on coal and were thrilled to...
Aug 16, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 2Ep. 193
Today we were delighted to host Bob Maguire, Managing Director and Co-Head of Carlyle International Energy Partners, along with Parminder Singh, Managing Director of International Energy, with The Carlyle Group at our office in Houston for a broad discussion on international energy investments. Bob is a seasoned international investor and has participated in global energy markets since 1986. Par brings prior experience in industrial sector investments and joined the Carlyle team in 2008. The Car...
Aug 09, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 192
It was our honor today to welcome Harold Hamm, Executive Chairman and Founder of Continental Resources, on the date of the official debut of his new book entitled "Game Changer: Our Fifty-Year Mission to Secure America’s Energy Independence." Harold is an acclaimed and veteran wildcatter, an American Patriot, an advisor to four Presidents on American energy policy, a visionary entrepreneur, and a loyal Oklahoman. He has made sizable contributions to the industry while also leading nonprofit effo...
Aug 02, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 191
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Nancy Jacobson, Founder & CEO, and Ryan Clancy, Chief Strategist, from No Labels. No Labels is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. dedicated to seeking common sense, bipartisan solutions to America’s most pressing issues and advocating for policies that benefit the American people. Since their establishment in 2010, No Labels’ congressional allies have played a significant role in shaping important legislation including the $900 billion CO...
Jul 26, 2023•44 min•Season 2Ep. 190
Today we were delighted to host James Calaway in our office in Houston for a broad discussion on mining, solar energy, and the energy transition. James is a solar and lithium industry veteran with a unique background centered on his desire to help the world reduce emissions and as he describes, “save the planet from killing itself.” He is the former chairman of Orocobre, has considerable experience with Chilean solar projects, and is currently the Executive Chairman of Ioneer. Ioneer is advancin...
Jul 19, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 189
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Sama Bilbao y León, Director General of the World Nuclear Association ("WNA"). Sama joined the WNA as Director General in late 2020 and has had an extensive career in nuclear with over 20 years of experience in nuclear engineering and energy policy, serving in industry, academia, and international organizations. The World Nuclear Association represents the global nuclear industry to promote the industry and importantly, provide authoritative information t...
Jul 12, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 188
We are very pleased today to be sending you a special 4th of July COBT. For our Canadian friends, we hope you had a fantastic Canada Day this past Saturday. For all of you celebrating the 4th today, we hope the baseball, hot dogs and apple pie are all flowing! With some grilling of course! For today’s special show, we were delighted to host our dear friend Rob West. Rob is the fascinating Founder and Lead Analyst at Thunder Said Energy. His background includes research at Redburn and Stanford C....
Jul 04, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 2Ep. 187
Today we had the pleasure of hosting John Bear, CEO of MISO (Midcontinent Independent System Operator), for a fantastic discussion. John has served as CEO since 2009 and joined the organization in 2004. In his 30+ years of executive leadership in the utility industry, John formerly served as the President of Reliant Resources, on the President’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Energy Systems Network along with other notable board posi...
Jun 28, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 186
Today we had the very interesting opportunity to visit with Professor Jesse Jenkins of Princeton University. Jesse is an Assistant Professor with a joint appointment in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and Environment. He has an extensive background in engineering systems and technology, getting his Ph.D. at MIT and his undergraduate degree in Computer and Information Science at the University of Oregon. He leads Princeton’s ZERO Lab (Zero-Carbon Energy Sy...
Jun 21, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 185
For today’s COBT, we had the pleasure of hosting our good friend and award-winning columnist Liam Denning. Liam is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering the energy sector and was previously with the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. He has nearly twenty years of experience covering energy and has experience in energy investment banking and consulting. We were thrilled to connect with Liam to discuss his recent article, “ Hiding an Army at the Top of the World .” The article touches o...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 184
Today we had the pleasure of visiting with Thomas Fox, President and Director of Innovation at Highwood Emissions Management. Thomas has an impressive academic and commercial background in emissions and from our previous interactions with him, we knew he could tackle the issues in a measured way that would help us all. While obtaining his Ph.D., Thomas invented LDAR-Sim (Leak Detection and Repair Simulator) – it is now used widely by industry, regulators, and innovators to approve new technologi...
Jun 07, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 2Ep. 183
Today we had the pleasure of visiting with Pavel Molchanov, Managing Director of Renewable Energy and Clean Technology Research at Raymond James. Pavel joined Raymond James as an Associate 20 years ago and actually first began coverage of the new energy space in 2006. His team currently covers all aspects of sustainable-themed technologies including solar, wind, biomaterials, electric vehicles, hydrogen, power storage, grid modernization, water technology, and more. We were excited to connect wi...
May 31, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 182
As we head into Memorial Day Weekend, we are excited to share this Special Edition with Brigadier General Kevin Ryan (U.S. Army Retired). During his service with the Army, Kevin served in air and missile defense, intelligence, and political-military policy areas in Europe, Korea, and Iraq. Kevin was formerly head of the Moscow office of the POW/MIA Commission and served as Senior Regional Director for Slavic States in the Office of Secretary of Defense and as Defense Attaché to Russia. He is cur...
May 26, 2023•42 min
Today we had the pleasure of hosting Takajiro Ishikawa in our office in Houston for a sweeping discussion of the technologies and broad topics influencing the future of energy. Tak is the President and CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America (MHIA). MHIA has 10,000 employees in the US spread over 66 locations and accounts for 20% of MHI’s global business. Tak is a seasoned executive with over thirty years of experience in the industry in both Tokyo and Houston, and since April 2022 has been l...
May 24, 2023•56 min•Season 2Ep. 181
It is our honor to welcome back Governor Mike Dunleavy of Alaska for today’s session. We hosted the Governor on COBT in July of 2022 and had much to cover since our last visit. Gov. Dunleavy moved to Alaska in 1983 and quickly became a proud local serving as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in Arctic communities before his 5-year term as a State Senator from 2013 – 2018. He was elected Governor in 2018 and was re-elected last November. We were thrilled to visit with the Governor to discu...
May 17, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 180
