James R. Burkhard
S&P Global
Vice President & Head of Research for Oil Markets, Energy and Mobility
Jim Burkhard, Vice President, Oil Markets, Energy & Mobility at S&P Global, is recognized as one of the world’s top analysts on global oil markets, scenarios, and on the future of energy and transportation. Jim has over 25 years of experience in energy market research and analysis. He is responsible for the development and coordination of S&P Global (previously IHS Markit) research, insights and messages for global and regional crude oil markets and scenarios. His expertise covers geopolitics, industry dynamics, global energy demand and supply, and mobility trends. In addition to oil markets, Jim leads research into how changes in the automotive ecosystem are impacting the future of energy and automotive markets via our Mobility and Energy Future service. He led the ground-breaking IHS Markit study, Reinventing the Wheel (RTW): The future of cars, oil, chemicals, and electric power. RTW has been cited by numerous press outlets around the world including the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg, and media outlets in China, Europe, and India. Jim is a principal leader in the creation and development of global energy scenarios that bring together the entirety of the firm’s energy research to form an integrated global outlook for the future of energy. The 2006 scenarios pointed to a major debt-induced global crisis two years before the 2008 recession; and in 2011, identified the roadmap to $50 oil by 2014/15. In February 2020 his team was among the first to recognize the scale of the spring 2020 world oil demand collapse and the possibility of negative oil pricing, which occurred in April 2020. Jim has testified before the US Congress on energy issues and is frequently sought for comment by global media. He has served on two US National Petroleum Council (NPC) studies that provide policy recommendations to the US Secretary of Energy on oil and gas infrastructure. Prior to joining Cambridge Energy Research Associates before its acquisition by IHS Markit, Mr. Burkhard was a member of the US Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa, where he directed infrastructure projects to improve water availability and credit facilities. He holds a BA from Hamline University and an MS from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
