CERAWeek: Super Bowl of energy events unfolds on oil's home turf

• "So much is happening, so fast, that partly CERAWeek will be an effort to just assimilate how much has changed, and what is the impact going to be," S&P's Dan Yergin, the energy historian and CERAWeek emcee, tells Axios.

The big picture: The exclusive, $10,000-per-head event is many things: big-name onstage interviews with CEOs and Cabinet heads, closed-door government-industry huddles, sideline dealmaking, and more.

• Energy Secretary Chris Wright is slated to have a private meeting on Monday with execs of major energy companies, Axios has learned.
• And while CEOs of oil giants take center stage Monday, the conference is far wider, spanning power, finance, and a clean tech wing with startups galore.

State of play: Oil and gas firms are mostly psyched about President Trump's anti-regs, "energy dominance" approach.

• But oil execs are worried about Trump's whiplashing trade policies and their effect on demand and project costs. (How overtly they're willing to complain is another question.)
• This year's conference opens just days after crude prices hit three-year lows before regaining a little ground. And C-suite concerns extend far beyond the oil patch.

"There's going to be a lot of discussion about tariffs and trade and supply chains," Yergin said.

Inside the room: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who heads the new White House energy "dominance" council, and Wright dined with an international group of CEOs on Sunday night ahead of CERAWeek's opening.

• The wide-ranging meeting included the CEOs of TotalEnergies, Freeport-McMoRan, Occidental Petroleum, and EQT, based on eyewitnesses and a participant granted anonymity to discuss the private event. Reuters has other names.
• Dinner conversation touched on permitting, nuclear power, energy production, the new White House council that Wright vice-chairs, and more, attendees said.
• "There was a lot of discussion about the AI race between China and the U.S.," the person said.

The gathering underscores how CERAWeek is concentric circles of exclusivity, ranging from onstage interviews and panels to private, off-the-record events.

Here are a few other themes we'll be watching...

The climate reset: "One of the big themes of CERAWeek 2025 is going to be the rethinking and recalibration of energy transition," Yergin said.

• The shift goes beyond just Trump as fossil fuel demand keeps rising and corporate and government climate targets slip further out of reach.
• "The gap between objectives and actually how things are playing out is just so striking," Yergin said.
• Expect lots of eyes on BP CEO Murray Auchincloss just two weeks after his firm ditched plans to curb oil and gas production.

Data centers and AI: This year's conference is packed with events about data center power growth and how to meet it.

• One of the opening sessions is about this with Google president Ruth Porat and NextEra Energy president John Ketchum.

The U.S. clean energy vibe: It's a window into how companies large and small assess Trump's assault on Biden-era low-carbon policies, which is already slowing or halting some projects.

• Organizers expect 250 startups this year, far more than last year. So it's a nice window into how they see the world.

What's next: Things get rolling on Monday with Wright, the CEOs of Saudi Aramco, Chevron, Shell, United Airlines and more.