Welcome to the new year from Energies Media! We’re excited to kick off the inaugural issue of 2026 with a cover feature interview with multi-talented actor Andy Garcia from Taylor Sheridan’s record-breaking series, Landman, on Paramount+. Readers will remember the 30-page spread on Landman in the Winter 2025 featuring most of the cast members, as well as a cover interview with Garcia’s nemesis, Tommy Norris, played by award-winning actor Billy Bob Thornton.
As we look back at the real world of energy in 2025, with it being deemed a “volatile” year, one of the biggest announcements was the major acquisition by Chevron of Hess Corp. for an approximate ~$53B, along with smaller deals such as EOG Resources’ $5.6B acquisition of Encino Acquisition Partners.
Major oil and gas discoveries were made with bp announcing its biggest find in 25 years off the coast of Brazil, Equinor making new discoveries in the North Sea, Kuwait Oil Co. announcing a major offshore gas discovery in the Persian Gulf, and a surprise petroleum discovery on the Baltic Coast by Central European Petroleum.
However, the year in review is not just about mergers and acquisitions or exploration and production, but also about the criticality of technology in areas like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT), and how agile companies are at employing that technology. According to its assessment of 39 energy companies worldwide, GlobalData named ConocoPhillips as the leader in technological readiness. (ConocoPhillips ended the previous year with a ~$22.5B acquisition of Marathon Oil.)
As the former editor-in-chief of Oilwoman Magazine (now part of Energies Media), one of the most significant stories of the year, in my opinion, was the December 2025 announcement of Meg O’Neill, former CEO of Woodside, as the CEO of bp (effective April 2026), making her the company’s first female CEO and first outside hire. Congratulations to O’Neill on this historic appointment! We look forward to seeing more of her on the world stage in 2026.
And, for those who may need a little escapism from the vagaries of the real world of energy, Paramount+ ended 2025 with the announcement of season 3 of Landman.
Rebecca Ponton is the editor in chief at U.S. Energy Media and author of Breaking the Gas Ceiling: Women in the Offshore Oil and Gas Industry. She is the publisher of Books & Recovery digital magazine.
