• CERAWEEK 2025 | March 10-14, 2025
  • CERAWEEK
  • March 10 - 14, 2025

Atul Arya

IHS Markit

Senior Vice President & Chief Energy Strategist

Dr. Atul Arya, Senior Vice President and Chief Energy Strategist, IHS Markit is responsible for integrating energy content, analysis, and insights across the entire energy value chain and for c-suite client engagements. The Energy division has an international presence, with over 500 colleagues and office locations on five continents. Legacy product brands including CERA, Herold, Purvin & Gertz, McCloskey, and EER are now part of the Energy business. Dr. Arya’s areas of expertise include business strategy, commercial analysis, oil markets, energy technologies, climate change, and renewables. He has over 30 years of leadership experience in the energy industry, including senior posts with BP. Dr. Arya’s experience includes leadership in solar energy development as well as oil and gas sector. His international career spans a range of energy fields from strategy development and business planning to field operations and technology commercialization. Dr. Arya has previously led Energy Insight, Research and Analysis, and Energy Research teams at IHS. He has previously served on boards of several companies and institutions including Tata BP Solar, Green Mountain Energy, and National Council for Atmospheric Research. Dr. Arya was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Agenda Council on the Future of Oil and Gas and Adjunct Senior Fellow at Council on Foreign Relations in the United States. He is a regular speaker and moderator at public conferences, company boards, and at CERAWeek. Dr. Arya holds a doctorate in engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Sessions With Atul Arya

Monday, 9 March

  • 11:40am - 12:20pm (CST) / -

    Plenary - More Energy, Lower Emissions: The dual challenge

    Reliable and affordable energy has been a vital tool for increasing economic wellbeing. But combustion of fossil fuels is the primary source of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. We have had some success decarbonizing power generation using increasingly affordable renewables and substituting gas for coal. But progress has been slower in transportation and industry. How, in future, can we sustain economic growth and bring people out of poverty while reducing GHG emissions?

  • 01:00pm - 01:50pm (CST) / -

    Getting to Net-zero with Direct Air Capture
    Climate & Sustainability Innovation & Technology

    Although the concept of direct air capture is simple, removing a gas that makes up less than 1% of the atmosphere is a major challenge. Interest and activity have accelerated recently, with backing from major investors including venture capital and oil and gas companies. What contribution might direct air capture make by 2050? Which technologies are most promising? Can direct air capture succeed without carbon pricing?

  • 02:00pm - 02:50pm (CST) / -

    Voices of Innovation: Arun Majumdar

    Hear the thoughts of an energy expert, Stanford professor, and the founding Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) on what it will take to scale energy innovations and the role of public policy in transforming global energy systems.

    Interviewed by Atul Arya, SVP and Chief Energy Strategist, IHS Markit.

  • 04:45pm - 05:25pm (CST) / -

    Plenary - Energy Transition: How much, how fast?
    Clean Tech

    Public interest, enthusiasm, and belief in an imminent energy transition have reached unprecedented levels. But the gritty realities of the energy transition are far removed from the simplistic story of affordable solar PV and wind power displacing dirty fossil fuels. Which technologies are close to being scalable and commercially viable? Who will provide the investment capital? Should investors require energy companies to accelerate cleantech investments?

  • 07:30pm - 09:00pm (CST) / -

    Scope 3 Emissions and Getting to Net-Zero
    Clean Tech

    Thousands of companies, universities, and cities have announced “Paris-compliant” emissions targets. Oil and gas companies used to concentrate on operational emissions (Scope 1) and resist setting goals for emissions relating to the use of their products (Scope 3). But this is changing. How do you define net-zero? Can Scope 3 emissions be meaningfully measured and managed? Whose responsibility are these emissions anyway?

Tuesday, 10 March

  • 07:30am - 08:40am (CST) / -

    Creating Value from Carbon
    Climate & Sustainability

    Carbon Capture, Use, and Storage (CCUS) offers the hope of earning revenue to offset at least some of the cost of carbon capture. If countries start pricing carbon emissions, this could create major commercial opportunities for innovative technologies for carbon use. Which technologies can use carbon at the huge scale required, and are they economic?

  • 09:30am - 10:20am (CST) / -

    Voices of Innovation: Bending the Emission Curve

    Dr. Fatih Birol, Executive Director, International Energy Agency, returns to the Agora for a deep discussion of the challenge of increasing energy access while limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Have emissions peaked? How important are oil and gas companies in researching and developing alternative technologies? What leadership role will the IEA show in energy and climate? Interviewed by Atul Arya, SVP and Chief Energy Strategist, IHS Markit.

    • Speakers:
    • Atul Arya
  • 12:30pm - 01:20pm (CST) / -

    New Horizons for Energy & Climate Research
    Innovation & Technology Climate & Sustainability
  • 02:10pm - 02:55pm (CST) / -

    Plenary - Future of Global Upstream
    Upstream Oil & Gas Climate & Sustainability

    There has been significant drop in oil/gas upstream investments since 2014. Although cost have continued to fall, yet there is concern about future supply gaps emerging. At the same time, numerous forecasts are predicting plateauing of oil demand although there is a wide range in terms of the time when this will happen. Many investors are pushing for faster move out of fossil fuels—resulting in some financial companies slowing/stopping oil/gas investments even though there are no economic substitutes for oil in many sectors such as heavy-duty transportation and petrochemicals. What is the case to continue to invest in oil/gas? Is there still need to explore for more oil and gas? What will be the future costs and emission footprint to ensure profitability and reduce risks of stranded assets?

  • 03:30pm - 04:20pm (CST) / -

    Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies
    Climate & Sustainability Clean Tech

    There is growing consensus that renewables alone cannot address every emissions challenge. Technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere could potentially reverse the trend of growing GHG concentrations. What are these technologies? How scalable are they? How close are they to commercial deployment? What is the cost and energy balance?

  • 04:30pm - 05:20pm (CST) / -

    Voices of Innovation with Ernie Moniz: The road ahead

    Join Ernest Moniz, President and CEO, Energy Futures Initiative, one of the most influential global thinkers for a broad ranging insight on the energy future. What are the most promising pathways for energy transition? How can we overcome the barriers and accelerate the development and deployment of technology? Interviewed by Atul Arya, IHS Markit Chief energy Strategist.

Wednesday, 11 March

Thursday, 12 March

Friday, 13 March