HeyJaredThe Energy Forum
Hosted by experts at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, “The Energy Forum” brings together policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders to explore key topics in energy and sustainability.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 9, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 9, 2026
Latest episodes
35: Hormuz Closures, Venezuela’s New Plan, and Oil’s Uncertain Path (opens the original)
Read excerpt
The global oil market continues to be volatile. Tensions between Iran and the United States persist, driving economic and geopolitical uncertainty. The Strait of Hormuz’s intermittent closures not only have led to a lower available oil supply but also have reduced its reliability as a route for shipping. Recently, the Trump administration announced a new plan to open Venezuelan oil fields to investment, with one stated goal being to fill America’s depleted strategic petroleum reserves. Meanwhile
From Baker Briefing: Unpacking Venezuela’s Opaque Oil Deal (opens the original)
Read excerpt
A recently announced deal between the U.S. and Venezuela to produce 65 billion barrels of oil – roughly a fifth of Venezuela’s total proven oil reserves – has raised questions about its terms. A single Latin American company, NABEP, run by Venezuelan executive Alejandro Betancourt, has been tapped to produce the oil, with part of the company being potentially owned by the U.S. Department of Defense. But it is unclear whether the oil fields covered by the contract can support the scale of product
34: Thinking Big With Small Reactors (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Small modular reactors, or SMRs, are attracting growing interest as a potential source of reliable, lower-carbon electricity for industries, data centers, and countries that may not need, or be able to finance, a large conventional nuclear plant. Turning that potential into real-world projects, however, requires more than innovative reactor designs—it depends on financing, manufacturing, regulation, workforce training, and public confidence. A new agreement between the United States, South Korea
33: Why Oil Markets Bounced Back (opens the original)
Read excerpt
Oil markets have experienced significant volatility across much of July, particularly after the dissolution of a ceasefire between Iran and the U.S., which temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz. The resumption of conflict — Iranian strikes on vessels transiting the strait, Houthi threats to vessels attempting to transit the Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Red Sea, the reimposition of the U.S. blockade, and 13 consecutive days of U.S. strikes on Iran — saw oil prices climb over $100 per barrel,
32: From Mechanical to Molecular: What ‘Advanced Recycling’ Actually Means (opens the original)
Read excerpt
The Center for Energy Studies recently hosted its second annual sustainability summit, bringing together experts to examine sustainability challenges from a systems-level perspective. In this episode of “The Energy Forum,” Rachel A. Meidl is joined by two speakers from the summit: Marco Castaldi, professor at City College of New York and cochair of the Recycling Science Council, and Katherine Hofman, sustainability strategic initiatives manager at Eastman. Together, they unpack the growing confu
Publishing over time
Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.
Recurring subjects
Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.
Audience
No verified audience measurement yet.
About this data
Counts cover the work we have indexed. Tone needs enough text and a confident classification. Excerpts and episode notes are not full articles or transcripts.
Identity or attribution wrong? Suggest a correction.