The Financial Times has covered the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston, Texas, USA held earlier this month, identifying the main trends and feelings in the conference. One was the improved spirits of the global oil industry, enjoying higher oil prices compared to recent years, but this was coupled with a sense of unease about the future if unconventional oil production leads to a new excess of the fuel in global markets, pushing prices down once more. A third was talk by oil and gas companies of the implications of climate change – what the industry can do to avert the worst of it, but also how it will affect business. This latter issue seems to have split the various companies, with Shellone that saw climate change as a major risk to business, with a possible peak in oil demand occurring as soon as a decade away, and Saudi Aramco representative of the other side, with a spokesman saying he was “not losing any sleep over peak oil demand”. As ever, time will be the judge of the different positions.