The Energy Bull Market Is Just Getting Started
Adam Taggart | Thoughtful Money® Jul 3, 2026
Summary
Strategic petroleum reserves (SPR — government emergency oil stockpiles) were drained in the recent crisis and must be rebuilt, Pomboy argues, adding oil demand.
She expects countries without reserves — Australia, India, Japan — to build stockpiles, and Norway to withhold oil exports to rebuild its own.
The energy bull case rests on AI data-center power demand and a rotation from paper into hard assets, not geopolitics.
Pomboy calls the oil price pullback a buying opportunity, planning to add exposure to both the commodity and the producers.
Adam Taggart's takeaways
- Top takeaway As host, he asks whether her exposure should favor energy producers or the commodity itself, drawing out her preference for a combination of the two.
- Per the video description, he and Stephanie Pomboy discuss why the long-term energy bull market is still in its early stages even after oil pulled back from recent highs.
Stephanie Pomboy's takeaways
- Top takeaway Remains very bullish energy as of July 2026: with oil prices normalizing after the Iran-driven spike, she views the current pullback as a buying opportunity and says she will likely add to her exposure.
- Roots the bull case in structural demand from the AI-related capex boom, which requires a large amount of energy to power.
- Sees a secular rotation from paper to hard assets, already visible among central banks and sophisticated investors, driven by the fiscal situation in the US and other G7 nations.
- Argues strategic reserves were heavily drained during the price spike — the US SPR is back at its post-COVID lows — and rebuilding will likely wait until after the US midterms, creating a new source of demand.
- Expects countries that lacked reserves (Australia, India, Japan) to start building stockpiles, while Norway has announced it will withhold oil exports to refill its own, tightening available supply.