086 David Ramsden-Wood, Engineer and Energy Thinker

<p><strong>The best energy opportunities are often hiding in plain sight.</strong></p><p>David Ramsden Wood—engineer, operator, investor, writer, and longtime energy thinker—joins Mark Hinaman for a wide-ranging conversation about how to recognize overlooked opportunities, allocate capital, and understand where the energy industry is heading next.</p><p>From the early days of the shale revolution to overlooked acreage in the Bakken and New Mexico, DRW shares how he learned to look past conventional wisdom and find assets that others had dismissed. The conversation gets into the importance of timing, understanding the underlying rock, and why simply spending more money is not the same thing as creating value.</p><p>They also discuss the lessons oil and gas may offer the rapidly expanding nuclear and data center industries. DRW argues that the current AI infrastructure boom deserves the same scrutiny as any other capital-intensive energy buildout: Are the economics real? Who is generating free cash flow? And are investors funding genuine demand or simply rewarding growth?</p><p>The conversation ranges from nuclear and natural gas to EVs, autonomous vehicles, commodity markets, private equity, and the changing economics of energy. Along the way, DRW shares hard-earned lessons about raising capital, incentives, groupthink, and why some of the best opportunities can look completely wrong—until suddenly they don&#39;t.</p>