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Drilling executive calls for a new course of action to achieve success

EMPOWERING TRANSITION

Nabors executive Subodh Saxena challenged leaders to think more like Generation Z at OTC2023. Photo courtesy of nabors.com

Gone are the days of people, process, and technology. Welcome to purpose, partnering, and governance.

In the early morning hours of the third day of OTC2023, Subodh Saxena, senior vice president at Nabors Industries, succinctly summarized both the challenges and opportunities faced by an industry in the middle of an identity crisis.

The upstream energy industry focused the better part of the last two decades on physical safety, division and clarity of responsibilities, and technology adoption and adaptation. Rightfully so, given the Macondo incident of 2010, the Enron collapse in 2002, and the general wildfire growth of technology in the workplace over the same time frame.

But as leadership that came of age during these tragedies takes the reigns, a new set of challenges arises. Consistent lack of positive financial returns, a shrinking talent pool, and of course, the climate crisis, combine to form the perfect storm for an industry just trying to manage the rising and falling tides of unstable commodity pricing.

To avoid completely capsizing during this squall in which the industry finds itself, Saxena describes three opportunities for improvement.

  • Attracting new talent by creating psychological safety in our workplaces and improving the perception of technology adaptation in the industry
  • Embracing a collaborative approach to building new solutions to limit the amount of siloed rework that currently stymies rapid advancement
  • Improved financial discipline with greater honesty about ROI for the entire supply chain

“We have a mindset in the industry, that we have to build everything ourselves," Saxena laments. "We have to learn to partner because [if] every company invests in new technology to create transition, whether that's hydrogen or any other source of green energy, that return on invested capital is going to become negative. We need to learn to collaborate to ensure that we are all going to be successful.”

The requests made by Saxena represent a growing movement within the incumbent industry to think not of the energy transition as a shift from one energy source to another but as a transition in mindset. Collaboration is the name of the game now, as are mindfulness, responsibility, and above all else, sustainability.

Revisiting purpose, partnering, and governance to identify room for improvement will ultimately determine whether organizations will sink or sail.

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Texas plugs in among states at highest risk for summer power outages in 2025

by the numbers

Warning: Houston could be in for an especially uncomfortable summer.

A new study from solar energy company Wolf River Electric puts Texas at No. 2 among the states most at risk for power outages this summer. Michigan tops the list.

Wolf River Electric analyzed the number of large-scale outages that left more than 5,000 utility customers, including homes, stores and schools, without summertime electricity from 2019 to 2023. During that period, Texas experienced 7,164 summertime power outages.

Despite Michigan being hit with more summertime outages, Texas led the list of states with the most hours of summertime power outages — an annual average of 35,440. That works out to 1,477 days. “This means power cuts in Texas tend to last longer, making summer especially tough for residents and businesses,” the study says.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which operates the electric grid serving 90 percent of the state, predicts its system will set a monthly record for peak demand this August — 85,759 megawatts. That would exceed the current record of 85,508 megawatts, dating back to August 2023.

In 2025, natural gas will account for 37.7 percent of ERCOT’s summertime power-generating capacity, followed by wind (22.9 percent) and solar (19 percent), according to an ERCOT fact sheet.

This year, ERCOT expects four months to surpass peak demand of 80,000 megawatts:

  • June 2025 — 82,243 megawatts
  • July 2025 — 84,103 megawatts
  • August 2025 — 85,759 megawatts
  • September 2025 — 80,773 megawatts

One megawatt is enough power to serve about 250 residential customers amid peak demand, according to ERCOT. Using that figure, the projected peak of 85,759 megawatts in August would supply enough power to serve more than 21.4 million residential customers in Texas.

Data centers, artificial intelligence and population growth are driving up power demand in Texas, straining the ERCOT grid. In January, ERCOT laid out a nearly $33 billion plan to boost power transmission capabilities in its service area.

Texas cities swelter with 50+ more hot days, new climate study shows

summer temps

Mother Nature is cranking up the summertime heat in Texas.

New data from Climate Central shows Houston and Austin are among nine major U.S. cities that now experience at least 50 more days per year with above-normal summer temperatures than they did in 1970. Other Texas cities that made the list were El Paso, McAllen and Tyler. Climate Central is a nonprofit organization that provides climate science research and analysis.

“Climate change is driving increasing temperatures across Texas and causing hotter summers. Austin and Houston now experience at least 50 more days above normal than they did in 1970,” said Kristina Dahl, vice president of science at Climate Central. “This isn’t just about discomfort; it’s about the growing risks to public health and infrastructure. We must prioritize climate resilience and stop burning fossil fuels to address these escalating challenges.”

For Austin, the number of above-normal-temperature summer days climbed by 50 from 1970 to 2024, according to Climate Central. During that period, the average summer temperature in Austin increased by 4.7 degrees.

In Houston, the quarter-century increase in the number of above-normal-temperature summer days was even higher — 56. The average summer temperature there rose by 4.6 degrees from 1970 to 2024, according to Climate Central.

Climate Central says that of the 242 cities it analyzed, 97 percent had seen a rise in the number of hotter-than-normal summer days (June, July and August) between 1970 and 2024. The study found the average jump in summer temperatures since 1970 was 2.6 degrees.

Outside Texas, cities on the list were Reno, Nevada; Albany, Georgia; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and New Orleans.

In the summer, the cities that warmed up the most from 1970 to 2024 were:

  • Reno, up 11.3 degrees.
  • Boise, Idaho, up 6.3 degrees.
  • El Paso, up 6.2 degrees.
  • Las Vegas, up 6.1 degrees.
  • Salt Lake City, up 5.9 degrees.

“As heat-trapping pollution continues to warm the planet,” Climate Central explains, “summer temperatures are arriving earlier and getting hotter — and dangerous heat extremes are becoming more frequent and intense.”

Climate Central’s study was based on weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

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A version of this article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston-area clean energy projects lose more than $700M in federal funds

funding cut

The federal government has canceled more than $700 million in funding for three clean energy projects in the Houston area.

In all, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently wiped out $3.7 billion in funding for 24 carbon capture and decarbonization projects across the country.

Houston-area projects that took a hit are:

It’s unclear how the loss of federal funding will affect the three Houston-area projects.

All $3.7 billion from the DOE was awarded in 2024 and 2025 during the Biden administration—in some cases days before President Trump took office.

“While the previous administration failed to conduct a thorough financial review before signing away billions of taxpayer dollars, the Trump administration is doing our due diligence to ensure we are utilizing taxpayer dollars to strengthen our national security, bolster affordable, reliable energy sources, and advance projects that generate the highest possible return on investment,” U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a release.

Advocates for clean energy sharply criticized the DOE’s action:

  • Jessie Stolark, executive director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, said cancellation of the 24 DOE-funded projects “is a major step backward in the nationwide deployment of carbon management technologies. It is hugely disappointing to see these projects canceled — projects that had already progressed through a rigorous, months-long review process by technical experts at DOE.”
  • Iliana Paul, deputy director for the Sierra Club’s industrial transformation campaign, complained that the Trump administration “killed dozens of major investments in American competitiveness, good jobs, and cleaner air to support Trump’s tax cuts and line the pockets of billionaires. These projects were not just pro-climate; they were pro-jobs, pro-innovation, and pro-public health. American workers, fenceline communities, and forward-thinking companies have had the rug pulled out from under them.”
  • Conrad Schneider, senior U.S. director of the Clean Air Taskforce, said the DOE’s move “is bad for U.S. competitiveness in the global market and also directly contradictory to the administration’s stated goals of supporting energy production and environmental innovation. Canceling cutting-edge technology demonstrations, including support for carbon capture and storage projects, undercuts U.S. competitiveness at a time when there is a growing global market for cleaner industrial products and technologies.”
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