Could oil and gas go the way of the landline phone?
Letter from the US: The bigger they are, the harder they fall
The oil industry is facing the same kind of seismic shift in consumption that rocked telecommunications with the arrival of the cellphone
“The reality is, [fossil fuel] is what runs the world today. It is going to run the world tomorrow and five years from now, 10 years from now, [and] 20 years from now,” Chevron’s CEO Michael Wirth told the Financial Times in October last year. His statement bears some similarity to what John deButts, chair of AT&T—once the US’ primary telecommunications supplier—said about his industry in 1977: “Our business in this industry is to provide people with communications of all forms. We think down the road we should continue to provide all people with all forms of communications using whatever technology is available at that particular time.” Back then, AT&T employed one out of every ni
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
