26/08/2026 by Daniel Tait
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released the second episode of its podcast mini-series about innovations in energy production.
The first episode of the mini-series looked at how developments in silicon solar cells had driven the boom in solar power seen today. The latest episode looks at the history of drilling and how innovation has changed the dynamics of the energy market. It starts with the foundation of the modern oil industry when the first commercial well was drilled in 1859. It moves onto the 20th century when the advent of directional drilling and offshore rigs facilitated access to further resources.
More recently, hydraulic fracturing, often known simply as “fracking”, has radically changed the market by making unconventional oil and gas resources accessible. Fracking has transformed the United States into the world’s biggest oil producer as operators have adopted the technology. Supermajors like ExxonMobil, the maker of the Mobil DTE hydraulic oil, have refined the technology further and bought up acreage to leverage economies of scale.
Looking to the future, the episode also looks at how drilling technology could help unlock low-emission, reliable geothermal energy projects.
According to IEA’s website, the episode’s guests include:
“…IEA energy analyst Courtney Turich; Sjoerd Brands, technical manager in Europe for well construction at SLB; Iain Hutchison, Chief Executive Officer of Merlin Energy; and Kristie McLin, Principal Investigator of the Utah FORGE project.”
The wider Everything Energy podcast covers a range of energy-related topics. Links to all the episodes can be found on the IEA’s website.
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