Can the Oil Companies Become “Energy Companies?”

Is it possible that Big Oil can morph itself into so many “energy companies,” in the sense that they offer an overhauled set of (cleaner) energy resources?  Over the years, I’ve consistently denied that they are capable of this (even if they actually wanted to) on the basis of the age-old concept of “core competency.”  Oil and gas exploration is a highly focused task that requires a large, super-specialized team of chemical and mechanical engineers, as well as trillions of dollars of capital equipment and delivery infrastructure.

Having said that, we all need to hope I’m wrong here, as it seems unlikely in the extreme that the directors of the oil companies are going to leave all those assets in favor of pursuing a less lethal manner of providing the world’s energy.

Here’s an article about Norwegian oil giant Statoil ASA and its CEO Eldar Saetre (pictured); it’s evident that, indeed, it’s possible for Big Oil to turn this corner.  We all need to pray that there is some level of truth here.