ConocoPhilips CEO Calls For Federal Energy Strategy

The large oil companies are spending a decent amount of money in research of alternative energies - for competitive reasons, they don't have much choice. That being said, it seems that what may be holding them back from investing more and making a greater impact in the development of useful technologies is that there is unease about what the U.S. government may ultimately decide upon in terms of regulations. Oil companies know regulations are coming, so they want to know what they have to deal with before making any significant investments.

ConocoPhilips CEO James Mulva says as much in this article from BusinessWeek online, "The Trouble with Crude Oil". Mulva calls for an energy strategy to come from the U.S. government, so U.S. oil companies can better compete with foreign companies and national oil companies.

My question is whether our government can make a policy that makes sense and doesn't simply make decisions based on winning votes (can anyone say ethanol made from corn?).

Oil Companies Discuss Global Energy Challenges

A number of the oil industry's top executives are going to meet next week in Houston to discuss the challenges of global energy. One expected agenda item is alternatives to traditional fossil fuels. This article also mentions that, according to ConocoPhillips Chairman James Mulva, U.S. oil companies have invested about $11 billion on renewable and other forms of energy in the past five years. What it doesn't mention is what percentage that investment is of the total amount of R&D spending that oil companies have done in the same period of time. Throwing out a number like that is less meaningful without a comparative figure. That is not to discount the fact that it's a significant number and undoubtedly a great deal more than most people probably realize is invested.