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This week we had the privilege of hosting Leif Johan Sevland, President and CEO of the Offshore Northern Seas Foundation (ONS), for a Special Edition. Leif is a Norwegian business leader and former politician with a distinguished career spanning public service and the energy sector. Prior to joining ONS, Leif served as the Mayor of Stavanger from 2005 to 2011. The ONS 2026 Conference is fast approaching, taking place from August 24–27 in Stavanger, Norway. The conference is held biennially and attracts 70,000+ global industry leaders representing over 1,100 companies and 35+ countries. We were honored to host Leif to preview this year’s conference, its major themes, and the trends shaping Norway’s, Europe’s and the world’s energy landscape.
In our conversation, Leif shared a preview of what attendees can expect at ONS 2026 and how this year's conference theme, Courage, is intended to challenge industry leaders to move beyond discussion and embrace decisive action in addressing the world's evolving energy needs. We explore Norway's unique position as both a leading oil and gas producer and an energy innovator, discussing how energy security, affordability, technological innovation, and shifting geopolitical dynamics are reshaping energy markets, investment priorities, and policy around the world.
We examine Europe's evolving innovation ecosystem, the accelerating adoption of AI and its growing impact on power demand, renewed interest in nuclear energy, and the convergence of energy, defense, and industrial technologies. Leif emphasizes the importance of open dialogue, global collaboration, and developing the next generation of industry leaders, and shares how ONS brings together policymakers, operators, investors, entrepreneurs, and innovators to exchange ideas and help shape the future of energy. The Veriten team will be at ONS, participating in a few panels, and connecting with good friends and with some of our partner and portfolio companies that will also be in attendance.
Mike Bradley started off the discussion by noting that two key market themes remained in place: lower oil prices and stronger equity markets. The 10-year Treasury yield remained range-bound, showing little directional movement. On the equity market front, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up ~500 to 600 points on the day, with gains driven primarily by Amgen, Caterpillar, and Goldman Sachs. On the oil market front, downward pressure on crude prices continued, with WTI falling by approximately $1/bbl to around $75/bbl. The decline was driven largely by market optimism that the temporary pause in U.S. military strikes on Iran would remain in place. He noted, however, that oil prices appear increasingly oversold from a technical perspective, having declined roughly $10 to $15/bbl over the past one to two weeks. As a result, crude prices could rebound sharply should the current military pause end or geopolitical tensions re-escalate.
He concluded by highlighting key takeaways from Saudi Aramco’s 2Q earnings call, noting that management delivered a decidedly bullish message on the outlook for global oil markets. According to Aramco, oil markets are far tighter than many indicators/prices suggest. Aramco noted that global markets lost ~11mmbpd of supply because of the conflict and shipping disruptions; strategic reserve releases and inventory drawdowns have masked the true extent of the shortage; inventory data understates physical market tightness; global inventories have been heavily depleted and must now be rebuilt over several years; and it would take around 18 months and roughly 2.1mmbpd of incremental demand just to restore inventories to pre-conflict levels if conditions normalize immediately.
We were fortunate to also have Veriten Venture Partner Karl Liapunov join and share his insights throughout the discussion. Karl is the founder of Starting Cold and is the U.S. Ecosystem Partner at Startuplab, where he previously served as Head of Energy & Climate Tech in Oslo.
