The Houston Report

HETI Members Drive Key Discussions at CERAWeek 2025

Published Feb 24, 2025 by Savannah Tarbet

CERAWeek Pitch Competition 2024

Every year more than 10,000 thought leaders, industry executives and policy experts gather at the largest convening of energy sector professionals, CERAWeek. The conference fuels the dialogue that shapes the new era of energy.

Taking place March 10-14 the 2025 program, Moving Ahead: Energy Strategies for a Complex World, will feature insightful discussion into policy and regulation, hydrogen and low-carbon fuels, supply chains, AI, climate and sustainability and more.

The sessions will feature dozens of HETI members speaking covering key transition topics, including:

Transition in Action: Energy giants shaping a sustainable future

March 10 | 12:30 – 1:00 pm
Speaker: Vijay Swarup, Senior Director, Climate Strategy & Technology, ExxonMobil
Industry leaders discuss how major energy companies balance climate goals, clean technology, and renewables with policy challenges and financial performance.

Is CCS Pivoting to Scale? Which industries and regions can drive it?

March 10 | 1:00 – 1:30 pm
Speaker: Chris Powers, Vice President, CCUS & Emerging, Chevron
Explore how industries and regions can drive the global scale-up of CCS by replicating key economic and policy conditions.

Unlocking the Hydrogen Value Chain: From production to market integration

March 10 | 1:30 – 2:00 pm
Speaker: Oleksiy Tatarenko, Senior Principal, Climate-Aligned Industries, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)
Explore how to scale hydrogen production, infrastructure, and market integration for sustainable adoption.

Which Technologies Are Ready for Gigaton Scale?

March 10, 2025 | 2:30 – 3:00 pm
Speakers: Ricky Sakai, Senior Vice President, Investment & Business Development, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America
Examine the technologies beyond solar and wind that can achieve gigaton-scale emissions reductions.

Fuel Sources Competing to Meet Data Center Demand

March 10 | 3:30 – 4:10 pm
Speaker: Srimonto Ghosh, General Manager, Chevron
Assess the role of fossil fuels, renewables, and nuclear in powering the surge in data center electricity demand.

Financing the Future: Scaling clean energy through innovative investment strategies

March 11 | 12:30 – 1:10 pm
Speakers: Jim Gable, President of Chevron Technology Ventures & Vice President of Innovation, Chevron and Georgina Campbell Flatter, Greentown Labs, Chief Executive Officer
Discover investment strategies driving large-scale clean energy deployment and innovation.

ExxonMobil | Real-world Progress on Building a Low-carbon Business

11 March | 10:00 am - 10:30 am
Gain insight into ExxonMobil’s approach to developing a business that reduces emissions in hard-to-decarbonize sectors.

A Blue Transition: Go low to no carbon with blue hydrogen

March 11 | 2:00 – 2:30 pm 
Speaker: Kai Guo, Head of Market Development and Origination, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Hydrogen Infrastructure
Learn how projects are advancing blue hydrogen through carbon capture, infrastructure, and cost optimization.

Technologies for Reducing Emissions in Oil & Gas Operations

March 11 |  2:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Speakers: Ilaria Parrella, Emission Abatement Executive Director, Baker Hughes
Explore real-world strategies and technologies lowering carbon intensity in oil and gas.

Lessons from the Frontlines: Implementing strategies and projects in the energy transition

March 11 | 4:15 – 4:55 pm
Speakers: Richard Jackson, President, U.S. Onshore Resources and Carbon Management Operations, Oxy; Barry Engle, President, Low Carbon Solutions, ExxonMobil; and Gavin Rennick, President, New Energy, SLB
Uncover key insights from industrial decarbonization and CCUS projects shaping the energy transition.

Innovating with Purpose: Strengthening industrial-academic partnerships

March 11 | 8:30 – 9:00 am
Speakers: David Duckworth, Hydrogen Technology Portfolio Manager, ExxonMobil
See how collaboration between universities and industry accelerates impactful energy innovations.

How to Align Methane Management and International Regulations

March 11 | 9:30 – 10:00 am 
Speakers: Matt Kolesar, Chief Environmental Scientist, ExxonMobil
Understand how producers are adapting to evolving methane regulations and emissions monitoring.

Developing Workforce to Leverage AI

March 11 | 1:30 – 2:00 pm
Speaker: Jessica Van Single, Managing Director – Global Resources Industry Talent & Organization Lead, Accenture 
Examine how AI is reshaping the energy workforce and driving new skill demands.

Technologies for Reducing Emissions in Oil & Gas Operations

March 11 | 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm (CST) 
Speakers: Ilaria Parrella, Emission Abatement Executive Director, Baker Hughes   
Explore strategies for advancing clean energy while ensuring global energy reliability.

The Green Gold Rush: A multi-trillion dollar opportunity?

March 11 | 4:00 – 4:30 pm
Speakers: Bobby Tudor, Chairman, Houston Energy Transition Initiative and David Rabley, Global Energy Transition and Sustainability Lead, Accenture
Identify the biggest business opportunities in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Balancing Energy Transition and Energy Security

March 12 | 2:25 – 3:05 pm
Speakers: Dan Holton, Senior Vice President, Hydrogen and Lithium, ExxonMobil

Explore strategies for advancing clean energy while ensuring global energy reliability.

ExxonMobil | Applying Technology to Maximize Value in the Permian Basin

12 March | 2:30 pm - 3:00 pm 
Discover how ExxonMobil is using advanced technology to optimize production and reduce emissions.

Making Geothermal Happen: Success stories

March 12 | 3:30 – 4:00 pm 
Speaker: Ajit Menon, Vice President, Geothermal, Baker Hughes and Tim Latimer, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Fervo Energy
Learn how geothermal energy is scaling as a reliable and sustainable power source.

How Can Long-duration Energy Storage Contribute to Tripling Renewables?

March 13 | 9:30 – 10:10 am 
Speaker: Vijay Betanabhatla, Head of Power, SLB  
Assess the role of energy storage in supporting large-scale renewable energy expansion.

Beyond Degrees: A call for rethinking climate metrics

March 13 | 10:00 – 10:30 am
Speaker: Sasha Mackler, Senior Vice President, Global Head of Strategic Policy, ExxonMobil

Challenge the focus on temperature targets and explore a broader framework for climate progress.

Seeking Net Zero in Energy-intensive Industries

March 13 | 2:30 – 3:00 pm
Speakers: Brian Payer, Senior Principal, Climate-Aligned Industries, Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI)  
Evaluate the technologies and strategies driving emissions reductions in heavy industry.

Visit us at CERAWeek to learn how Houston is leading the energy transition.
 

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2/11/25
Over the past 15 years, Houston has secured $104.8 million in early-stage R&D funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E), according to the agency. The strategic funding is critical in advancing breakthrough technologies that aim to revolutionize the energy sector.   Since its inception in 2009, ARPA-E has invested $4.07 billion into more than 1,690 projects nationwide. Texas has been a major beneficiary of these funds, receiving $217 million across 80 projects, with Houston playing a leading role in shaping the state’s energy landscape.  While ARPA-E funding has historically been directed toward university-led projects, Houston has demonstrated a unique advantage. Most of the funding has been awarded to private companies, underscoring Houston’s ability to transition groundbreaking energy technologies from the research phase to commercialization.  “Houston has built an unparalleled environment for energy innovation, where companies don’t just develop breakthrough technologies—they scale them,” said Jane Stricker, the Partnership’s senior vice president of energy transition and the executive director of the Houston Energy Transition Initiative. “The significant ARPA-E funding secured by private companies reflects Houston’s unique ability to bridge innovation and commercialization. With a deep talent pool, access to industry expertise, and a collaborative ecosystem, Houston continues to be the place where energy solutions grow from concept to scalable impact.”  Transformative Projects in Houston  Houston’s ability to attract and leverage ARPA-E funding is evident in the success of local companies. A Partnership analysis found that since 2009, 13 Houston-based companies receiving ARPA-E funding have collectively raised $1.3 billion, reached a combined valuation of $1.9 billion, and employ 850 people. These companies are driving transformative projects that are shaping the future of energy. Fervo Energy received a $5.6 million investment from ARPA-E, which became a cornerstone for the company’s rapid growth. With this early support, Fervo has gone on to raise nearly $500 million in additional funding, including a $255 million round in 2023. The company is now at the forefront of geothermal energy innovation, supplying renewable power to high-profile clients like NV Energy and Google, which uses Fervo’s geothermal energy to power its data centers.  With a combined $21.5 million in ARPA-E funding from awards in 2018 and 2022, Quidnet Energy has made significant strides in advancing its grid-scale geomechanical pumped storage technology. By leveraging existing natural resources, the company enables long-duration, high-capacity renewable energy storage. In 2020, Quidnet secured an additional $10 million in Series B funding and is now scaling its groundbreaking system to support CPS Energy in Texas.  In 2019, Syzygy Plasmonics received $836,000 in funding to advance its photocatalysis technology, which uses light instead of heat to drive chemical reactions. This innovation significantly reduces energy consumption and emissions, paving the way for more sustainable industrial processes. The company has since secured $104.8 million in additional funding and recently delivered its first industrial-scale Rigel reactor cells to a demonstration site in South Korea.  Learn more about Houston’s Energy Transition Initiative at the upcoming 2025 CERAWeek. 
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11/12/24
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This sense of collaboration is one of the many reasons Sage Geosystems has thrived in Houston, along with the infrastructure, talent and innovative spirit that propels local companies to success. The Houston Advantage for Energy Startups “While Texas is the top energy state in the U.S., Houston is the heart. Houston provides not only access to the O&G industry, but also many utilities and others interested and/or working in energy...The Houston energy ecosystem and the benefits described above will continue to be critical in this scale-up plan." - Sage Geosystems CEO Cindy Taff Looking ahead, Sage is building its first commercial energy storage facility and will be performing a geothermal power generation demonstration with the U.S. Air Force in 2025.  Sage sees Houston as the best place to scale in Texas and throughout the world. "Geothermal energy represents a transformative opportunity for Houston as it further strengthens our position as the global energy capital. 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