Atul Arya

S&P Global Commodity Insights

Senior Vice President and Chief Energy Strategist

Atul Arya, Senior Vice President and Chief Energy Strategist, S&P Global, is responsible for integrating energy content, analysis and insights across the entire energy value chain and for C-suite client engagements. The S&P Global Commodity Insights division has a global presence, with colleagues and office locations on five continents. Dr. Arya’s areas of expertise include energy strategy, climate change, energy transition, renewables, CCS, Hydrogen, clean energy technologies, upstream oil and gas and energy markets. He has previously led Energy Insight, Research and Analysis, and Energy Research teams at IHS and IHS Markit. Dr. Arya has over 35 years of leadership experience in the energy industry, including senior positions with bp. His international career spans a diverse array of energy fields from strategy development and business planning to field operations and technology innovation. His experience includes leadership in solar energy development as well as oil and gas sector. Dr. Arya has previously served on boards of several companies and institutions including Tata BP Solar, Green Mountain Energy and National Council for Atmospheric Research. He 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 speaker and moderator at public conferences, company boards and industry events and is a member of the CERAWeek leadership team. Dr. Arya holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in petroleum engineering.

Sessions With Atul Arya

Monday, 6 March

Tuesday, 7 March

Wednesday, 8 March

  • 07:15am - 08:20am (CST) / 08/mar/2023 01:15 pm - 08/mar/2023 02:20 pm

    Resilience, Technology Pathways and Energy Transition: The new National Petroleum Council reports
    Session description coming soon
  • 09:30am - 10:00am (CST) / 08/mar/2023 03:30 pm - 08/mar/2023 04:00 pm

    Social Cost of Carbon: A Conversation with Richard Newell

    What is the role of private sector vs government in mitigating climate change? How can public and private sectors better collaborate? What should the future communication infrastructure look like for public-private collaboration to succeed- especially in the role of energy, technology, and finance industries?

  • 10:30am - 11:10am (CST) / 08/mar/2023 04:30 pm - 08/mar/2023 05:10 pm

    Voices of Innovation: Bill Vass
    Coming Soon
  • 02:30pm - 03:00pm (CST) / 08/mar/2023 08:30 pm - 08/mar/2023 09:00 pm

    The Current State of Climate Science

    A discussion on the role of capital and innovation in enhancing energy productivity, and a look at the impact on energy mix and climate change.

  • 03:15pm - 03:55pm (CST) / 08/mar/2023 09:15 pm - 08/mar/2023 09:55 pm

    Can this Energy Transition Be a Revolution?
    Historically, energy transitions have been multi-faceted. Biomass is the energy source from which the world transitioned into coal. Yet even that initial transition is far from finished. Globally more than 2.6 billion people do not have access to clean cooking fuel. For these people, including much of the population in sub-Saharan Africa, the shift from biomass to LPG for cooking will be a 21st century energy transition that will reduce local air pollution, improve health and livelihood and spare women the hours spent gathering wood. Staggering growth in energy demand appears ahead, even with continuing improvement in energy efficiency. Energy transitions are not new. But this one is different because of that imperative to reduce emissions while at the same time enabling energy consumption to continue to grow. Other key differences are the speed and all-encompassing scale it implies—net-zero by 2050. In prior transitions, externalities such as the impact and cost of emissions were not considered. These differentiators make this transition—untested in the history of energy—more challenging than any previous energy transitions. This transition is driven more by policy and market interventions aimed at reducing emissions, than by market economics and technology. Previous energy transitions have unfolded over a century or more, not in a quarter of a century. Moreover, energy transitions have not reduced or replaced the existing energy base before the new energy base was ready; instead, they resulted from new sources being added atop the existing mix. In short, global energy systems cannot be rebuilt overnight. Capital stock, i.e., hardware has a lifespan of decades and cannot be changed as quickly as software. The target to achieve net zero by mid-century is extremely challenging as evidenced by the quick rebound in emissions in 2021-22 after the drop in 2020 due to COVID-19. What is the realistic pace of change for energy and emission transitions without leading to unintended consequences? Will consumers have to pay higher energy prices for the foreseeable future to reduce emissions? How should energy transition play out in emerging economies where emissions may continue to increase for some years before reversing the trend? How can the transition be just, orderly and “well managed”? What will this require?

Friday, 10 March