Robin Mills is CEO of Qamar Energy and a non-resident Fellow of the Centre on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University. Author of two books on the strategic future of energy, he has broad and deep commercial, economic and technical experience in the energy and upstream oil and gas business. Robin is an expert in energy strategy and risk analysis with strong knowledge about the Middle East, Russia and the North Sea.
Modern commentators think of OPEC entirely as a market management mechanism, often referring to it as a cartel. But for the first 22 years of its existence after 1960, it did not apply production quotas. It was only in 1982 that OPEC introduced quotas to share the market between its members. Apart from brief periods of breakdown, it has kept that role ever since, writes Robin M. Mills in his latest column for Energy Connects.
For now, every day that the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the world continues to lose about 11 million barrels per day of oil supply out of about 105 million bpd of demand. Also cut off are 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas, some 40% of nitrogen-based fertiliser exports, 45% of sulphur exports, nearly 39% of helium, about 34% of methanol exports, from 9-15% of polymers, and 22% of non-Chinese aluminium production. Production of these energy-intensive commodities elsewhere will also be slashed by the loss of oil and gas feedstock. The best way to make this into a short-lived crisis is to plan for a long one, writes Robin Mills in his latest column for Energy Connects.
As the Middle East conflict enters its sixth day, global gas markets are facing growing uncertainty and disruption. In the latest episode of the Energy Connect podcast, Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy and Energy Connects columnist, discusses with host Chiranjib Sengupta the sharp rise in natural gas prices, the competition for LNG between Europe and Asia, and the broader implications for energy security. They also explore how resilient the global gas sector is in the face of supply disruptions and what the next few years could hold for LNG markets.
The Ayatollah is dead, but the danger to Gulf energy supplies has intensified. While the US and Israel pummel Iran, Iranian drones and missiles hit not just Israel, but its Gulf neighbours. So far, energy facilities are not in the cross-hairs – but how long can that last? Robin M. Mills analyses in his latest column for Energy Connects.
Commodities had a good year in 2025. Despite the steady slide in oil, the broad asset class that includes everything from gold to grain and crude to copper overcame tariffs and wars to end more than 15 per cent up in the Bloomberg Commodity Index. One month in, and this year has already delivered plenty of news flow: metals should stay shiny, crude sludgy, while natural gas diverges, writes Robin Mills in his monthly column.
There can be no energy security without climate security. Wild weather will hit offshore oil platforms and wind turbines, electricity cables and hydroelectric dams. Rising seas will flood petroleum refineries and nuclear power plants. Merciless heat waves will bring blackouts. But those who acknowledge the severity of the climate crisis still have genuine, well-founded concerns over the costs and risks of a very rapid shift to a low-carbon energy system, writes Robin M. Mills in his latest monthly column.
Ozempic, Mounjaro and similar drugs have transformed weight-loss medicine. Expiry of patents in India, China and other big countries next year, and the development of similar drugs in pill-form, avoiding the need for injections, should make them much more affordable and convenient. Does this medical breakthrough also have potential for a leaner, fitter energy system?
“Tune out the noise, track the signal,” was the counsel of H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ADNOC Managing Director and Group CEO, to the ADIPEC conference in Abu Dhabi. The ever-expanding event was dominated by the talk of more: more energy needs, more oil and gas demand, and more AI.
At the conference of Britain’s governing Labour Party in Liverpool last week, two protesters squeezed in a white elephant costume with “carbon capture and storage” written on it. Last month, Nature published a paper suggesting underground carbon dioxide storage capacity is much less than previously thought. These two happenings link a continuing hostility from environmentalists towards one of our key climate technologies.
In his exclusive monthly column, Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy, reflects on Hiroshima and how nuclear technology remains trapped between its origins as a weapon, rising geopolitical risks, and its growing potential as a vital, low-carbon energy source in the fight against climate change.
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