Former chairwoman of Citgo Petroleum on Venezuelan oil
Luisa Palacios, the former chairwoman of Citgo Petroleum, discussed what guarantees oil companies need before making big investments.
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The energy sector is in the midst of historic transformation, including rapid technological progress and declining clean energy costs, growing urgency to address climate change – with the impacts of climate change increasingly evident, rising headwinds for the oil and gas sector, the short- and long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and growing ambition to address climate change with more countries, financial institutions, and corporations announcing long-term net zero emissions targets. That even includes some oil and gas companies, and among those announcing the most ambitious long term goals has been BP.
In this edition of Columbia Energy Exchange, host Jason Bordoff is joined by Spencer Dale, BP’s group chief economist, to discuss the outlook for the energy sector, the impact of the pandemic on it, BP’s corporate strategy shift, and more. Spencer is responsible for the annual BP Energy Outlook, which tries to make sense of where the energy sector is in the midst of the pandemic, and where it might be headed in different scenarios.
Prior to this role, Spencer served as executive director for financial stability at the Bank of England and was a member of its Financial Policy Committee. Between 2008 and 2014, Spencer was chief economist of the Bank of England and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee.
Great power competition—particularly between the United States and China—is intensifying. This rivalry is reshaping everything from technology supply chains and energy security to the future of artificial intelligence. ...
Early on January 3, 2026, the United States apprehended Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife and removed Maduro from power. Maduro was transported to New York, where he now faces federal charges of narco-terrorism and drug trafficking.
This has been a crucial year for US energy policy. The passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated many of the clean energy incentives that were...
Over the past week, President Trump has intensified pressure on Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro by targeting the regime’s economic lifeline—oil. The United States has seized two oil tankers...
The US intervention in Venezuela may jeopardize both the flow of discounted Venezuelan oil to China's teapot refineries and the role of Chinese oil companies in Venezuela’s upstream business.
In discussing the dramatic seizure of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, over the weekend, President Donald Trump declared that the United States would now “take back” the country’s oil. Yet he has offered little clarity on what exactly this means.
The country could see a relatively rapid recovery of some oil production, depending on the leadership that emerges.
Early on 3 January 2026, the United States launched a military operation to arrest President Nicolás Maduro and remove him from Venezuela.