Navigating the Global Energy Crisis: Rethinking Strategies for UK Security

The session will examine the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on the major oil and gas producing and consuming regions. It will ask how the war has changed the structure of global markets and how countries are adapting their behaviour, before asking how these changes are interacting with strategic positioning in the energy transition. How might these new behaviours and dependencies impact long established relationships, such as between Europe, the United States and Middle Eastern oil and gas producers?

Chair: Dr Tobias Borck, RUSI, Senior Research Fellow

Jon Marks, Cross-border Information, Chair, Gulf States Newsletter, Editorial Director

Dr James Henderson, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Head of Gas Research

Dr Michal Meidan, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Head of China Research

Dr Aura Sabadus, energy and cross-commodity writer at Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS) and RUSI Associate Fellow

Laurent Ruseckas, S&P Global Commodity Insights, Executive Director, Investing in Energy

The panel will assess UK energy security strategy in light of the energy crisis and the energy transition. It will ask where the strategy worked and where it could be improved, as well as why electrification, renewable generation, demand management and energy efficiency played so little role in the government response to the crisis. The panellists will discuss how security strategies might be better integrated across technologies and markets and will conclude by asking what the fundamental challenges to energy security will be going forwards with respect to managing oil and gas risks.

Chair: Dan Marks, RUSI, Research Fellow

Dan Monzani, Aurora ER, Managing Director, UK & Ireland

Professor Mike Bradshaw, Warwick Business School, Professor of Global Energy, UK Energy Research Centre, Co-Director

Lisa Fischer, E3G, Programme Lead

Dr Jess Britton, University of Edinburgh, Research Fellow

Panellists will explore what makes a mineral critical, countries of origin and countries of processing. They will address the supply-demand outlook, financing requirements, and the implications for net zero industries globally, as well as the consequences for the environment and human security in mineral producing regions. The session will then address how the UK is positioned in the critical minerals space and what the country might bring to the global industry.

Chair: Fiona Clouder, RUSI, Distinguished Fellow, former Regional Ambassador, Latin America and Caribbean, COP26

Lord Turner, Energy Transitions Commission, Chair

Olimpia Pilch, Critical Minerals International Alliance, Founder and Chief Operating Officer

Sarah Gordon, Satarla, Co-founder and Chief Executive

Hugo Brodie, Head of Product Development & Innovation, London Metals Exchange 

The panel will explore net zero supply chains within Latin America and the Caribbean. Speakers will discuss how the region’s mining and energy sectors interact and the wider policy, security, and financial implications for the UK market. Panellists will analyse how geopolitical realities could potentially affect the accessibility, extraction, processing and distribution of resources critical to global energy security and the energy transition. The discussion will assess the region's capacity to provide alternatives to China for processing and certain products, exploring the extent to which Latin America could diversify supply chains and contribute to global efforts for resource security and sustainable manufacturing.

Chair: Dr Carlos Solar, RUSI, Senior Research Fellow

Fiona Clouder, RUSI, Distinguished Fellow, former Regional Ambassador, Latin America and Caribbean, COP26

Henry Sanderson, Benchmark Minerals Intelligence, Executive Editor, Author of Volt Rush

Francisco Lopez, JDF Abogados, Energy Director, Former Undersecretary of Energy, Chile.

Speakers will examine China’s dominant position in net zero supply chains and explore the security consequences of this position for the rest of the world. Drivers for China’s positioning in the energy transition are both economic and geopolitical. What is the potential for political tension in these supply chains and how effectively could they be used to secure political objectives? How big are the risks and how should the UK take this into account in developing international partnerships and its critical minerals and energy strategies.

Chair: Dr Michal Meidan, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Head of China Research

Dr Philip Andrews-Speed, The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Senior Research Fellow

Jack Bedder, Project Blue, Founder and Director

Bernice Lee, Chatham House, Research Director, Futures, Hoffmann Distinguished Fellow for Sustainability, Chair, Sustainability Accelerator Advisory Board

Tom Baxter, China Dialogue, Global China Editor