Big Digital Energy

Welcome to Big Digital Energy with Chuck Yates, Mark Meyer and Kirk Coburn. Weekly news in energy covering oil and gas and cleantech.

  1. 2D AGO

    Big Tech's Dirty Energy Secret, Avatar's O&G Shark Tank & The AI Divide | BDE 03.27.26

    Kevin Krausert, CEO and Co-Founder of Avatar Innovations Inc., brings a story that starts with a vegan roughneck and ends with a venture studio that's quietly changing how oil and gas companies innovate from the inside out. Chuck and Kevin get into the Avatar model, some clever bets that actually paid off, the coolest ideas that flopped, and why Kevin thinks AI early adopters in energy are about to leave everyone else in the dust. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Vegan Roughneck Origins03:16 - Big Tech's Energy Wake-Up Call07:14 - What Avatar Innovations Actually Is08:33 - How the Program Works11:10 - Bragging Rights: Production Optimization Win14:25 - Turning Oilfield Emissions Into Beer CO215:13 - Smart Grid Splice Monitoring Tech18:26 - How to Get Into the Avatar Program22:00 - AI-Optimizing Condensate Stabilizers24:05 - The Shale Revolution and Suspending Convention27:14 - Who Drives Innovation in Oil and Gas30:03 - AI as the Single Source of Truth35:38 - Building AI Sandboxes for the Oilfield38:09 - Open CLAW and Observations from Nvidia GTC39:51 - What a VC Legend Taught Chuck About Markets42:04 - The Best Ideas That Didn't Work45:58 - Know Your Loss Point Before You Start49:30 - How to Connect With Kevin and Avatarhttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    52 min
  2. MAR 20

    Qatar LNG Wiped Out, $200 Oil in Asia & Iran's Endgame | BDE 03.20.26

    Chuck and Mark are back and wasting no time getting into it. Qatar's LNG infrastructure is heavily damaged, a Red Sea refinery just got hit, and oil markets are absorbing a shock that the IEA apparently never saw coming (surprise). The guys break down regime adjustment vs. regime change, what a prolonged Strait of Hormuz disruption could mean for a global recession, and why gas prices matter more politically than anyone wants to admit. Then somehow they land on Mean Joe Green, Chuck Norris, and Astros opening day. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 - Intro and catching up2:00 - Iran conflict and energy infrastructure strikes5:00 - Qatar LNG damage and supply disruption10:00 - Regime change vs. regime adjustment12:00 - Oil price predictions and IEA criticism14:00 - Europe energy security concerns17:30 - Strait of Hormuz and recession risk18:30 - Gas prices and US political reality23:30 - US military effectiveness25:00 - RIP Mean Joe Green and Chuck Norris28:00 - Astros opening day and the WBC32:30 - Wrap uphttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    34 min
  3. MAR 17

    "Robinhood for Oil & Gas": Tokenized Energy, Blockchain Deals & Permian Access | BDE 03.17.26

    Oil and gas deals have always been a handshake-and-know-the-right-guy kind of business, but Tokenized Energy is changing that. Chip Simmons and Adrian Macias, co-founders of Tokenized Energy, along with Tim Pawul, President of Minerals and Royalties Authority LLC, join Chuck to break down how blockchain is turning exclusive oil and gas investments into something anyone can access from their phone for as little as 500 bucks. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 - Intro and what Tokenized Energy actually does3:01 - Breaking down the barriers to oil and gas investing6:00 - Inside the platform: data rooms, deal structure, and SPVs9:05 - Building your own personal oil and gas portfolio10:11 - Deals on the platform and how they launched12:23 - Buyer minimums, price setting, and the CarMax model14:07 - How sellers get assets on the platform17:14 - Early beta results and what surprised them21:34 - Chuck's soapbox: making oil and gas sexy again25:37 - 5-year vision: stablecoins, yield tokens, and secondary markets31:44 - Why the US is behind on tokenization adoption38:17 - WTI tokens, commodity-backed digital assets, and optionality46:19 - Overcoming the "vaporware crypto" misconception49:09 - Robinhood for oil and gas and where digital investing is heading52:50 - How to access the platform and get in touchhttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    56 min
  4. MAR 3

    US Bombs Iran, Oil Barely Flinches, OPEC Ramps & the Regime Change Gamble | BDE 03.03.26

    The Persian Gulf just became a live fire zone and crude is barely flinching. What does that tell you about where oil markets really stand? David Pursell, EVP Planning Reserves and Fundamentals at Apache Corporation, joins Kirk and Mark to break down the US strikes on Iran, why this is nothing like Operation Midnight Hammer, what OPEC is actually capable of producing, how strategic reserves are everyone's insurance policy, and whether the real story here is regime change, not barrels. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 US strikes on Iran and initial oil market reaction2:50 Shipping disruptions and Strait of Hormuz concerns5:30 Weeks not days and the case for regime change7:26 Who actually cares and global market impact11:35 Iranian oil on tankers and strategic reserves14:54 OPEC production increases and spare capacity questions18:48 Strait of Hormuz as a chokepoint21:03 The regime change problem and keeping the lights on29:19 Sunni-Shia dynamics and what comes next34:14 Structurally bearish factors and why the market yawns41:50 US oil demand growth and fundamentals check44:04 The IEA critique cornerhttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    49 min
  5. FEB 23

    Texas Railroad Commission Candidate on Zombie Wells, Injection Crisis & CCS Scam | 02.23.26

    Hawk Dunlap, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, pulls no punches on zombie wells, produced water injection, and why carbon capture is a taxpayer funded scam. From 27 years of international well control across 100 countries to excavating 150 leaking wells on a Texas ranch, Hawk brings the kind of boots on the ground credibility this conversation demands. The primary is March 3rd. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 - Intro and Hawk Dunlap origin story4:46 - Well Control Management and international career8:19 - The Container Ranch and zombie wells13:43 - Excavating 150 wells and what they found18:20 - Litigation, Railroad Commission, and accountability27:18 - Produced water injection as the defining issue28:53 - Water recycling and the orphan well fund36:21 - Orphan well plugging program problems45:01 - Carbon capture and why Hawk opposes it56:28 - Railroad Commission name change1:01:11 - AI and risk assessment for orphan wells1:12:21 - Campaign trail and closing thoughtshttps://twitter.com/collide_io https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters

    1h 17m
  6. FEB 13

    Chevron Buys Texas Ranch to Dodge Lawsuit, Wind Blade Graveyards & Musk's Space AI | BDE 02.13.26

    Kirk, Chuck, and Mark cover Chevron's settlement to buy a West Texas ranch rather than face trial over decades of alleged pollution, Ken Paxton's lawsuit against a fiberglass recycling site turned wind turbine blade graveyard, and Elon Musk's plan to put AI data centers in space powered by solar panels. They debate whether the space data center concept is real or just Musk messing with software guys, discuss BP suspending share buybacks to reduce debt after their energy transition distraction, and reflect on Expand Energy leaving Oklahoma City nearly a decade after Aubrey McClendon's death, marking the end of an era for the company he built. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Welcome and first concert stories02:11 - Chevron West Texas ranch settlement08:27 - Environmental litigation implications11:12 - Wind turbine blade graveyard lawsuit17:23 - Green energy waste problem19:02 - Elon Musk's space AI data centers24:24 - Building data centers in space27:35 - Earth's electricity limitations30:55 - Space compute infrastructure race33:16 - BP suspends share buybacks37:38 - Expand Energy leaving Oklahoma City41:19 - Houston's oil and gas consolidationhttps://twitter.com/collide_io https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters

    44 min
  7. FEB 6

    Devon-Coterra Mega Merger, Data Center Cancellations Spike & Rubio's Mineral OPEC | BDE 02.06.26

    Kirk Coburn, Mark Meyer, and Chuck Yates tackle Devon's $58 billion merger with Coterra—a Delaware Basin land grab with Marcellus as an afterthought. They break down why scale matters when your cost of capital beats everyone else's, why Oklahoma keeps building great companies Houston eventually swallows, and why data center cancellations reveal America's infrastructure crisis. The real insight? PJM's grid failures prove you can't bolt 21st century AI demand onto 20th century infrastructure with 19th century permitting. Plus: Trump's trade flurry, China's mineral monopoly, and why we have 2 icebreakers while Russia has 54. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Goldman's Jersey City building and Connecticut commuters01:36 - Collide's IRR triples with software sales03:19 - Why retail AI can't handle deep energy verticals05:50 - Devon-Coterra merger breaks: $58B Delaware play08:29 - $1B in synergies means AI replaces people11:03 - No-premium stock mergers finally catch on13:19 - Panther to WPX to Devon Delaware journey15:11 - Oklahoma builds energy companies Houston acquires17:12 - Grok's brutal take on the merger20:15 - Scale drives cost of capital advantages22:13 - Data center cancellations spike from 6 to 2525:23 - Microsoft's Azure growth disappoints Wall Street27:18 - Why AI compute costs become investor concerns29:20 - Collide builds Spindletop for on-prem processing31:40 - Data centers pivot from urban to distributed models33:40 - PJM cancellations expose grid reliability crisis36:31 - Trade policy lightning round begins39:14 - US shipbuilding can't compete with China's 300x capacity41:37 - Rubio builds OPEC for critical mineralshttps://twitter.com/collide_io https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters

    44 min
4.3
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

Welcome to Big Digital Energy with Chuck Yates, Mark Meyer and Kirk Coburn. Weekly news in energy covering oil and gas and cleantech.

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