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Oil execs see growth in renewable energy
By H. JOSEF HEBERT,Associated Press Writer AP - 43 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Many oil and gas company executives are predicting a significant ramp-up of renewable energy use over the next five years to run cars and trucks and generate electricity, according to a new survey.
A survey of chief financial officers of 100 U.S. oil and gas exploration and production companies found that nearly nine of 10 executives predicted renewable energy to gain a larger share of the market in the next five years with better than 1 in 5 executives expecting the share to more than double.
The telephone survey conducted for BDO Seidman LLP, a leading accounting and consulting firm, also found that nearly two-thirds of the executives favored controls on carbon dioxide emissions, the leading pollutant linked to global warming, although a third of them said they preferred state over federal regulation.
Only 37 said that industry should be left to "self regulation" when it comes to greenhouse gases, according to the survey, which was provided to The Associated Press.
"This was one of the most surprising findings in the survey," said Charles Dewhurst, head of BDO Seidman's energy industry practice, adding that energy executives tend to oppose greater regulation. A few years ago oil and gas industry executives were largely united in their opposition to mandatory controls on carbon dioxide.
The survey of executives, whose companies were selected at random, was conducted in October, before the presidential election, and may understate the executives' expectations on renewable energy growth. President-elect Barack Obama has made nonfossil energy development a key part of his energy plan and his strategy to revive the struggling economy.
When asked what market share renewable energy _ solar, wind, biofuels and hydroelectric power _ is expected to have in five years, 64 percent of the corporate financial officers said it would grow to between 8 percent and 12 percent. Twenty-two percent of the executives said they expect the market share to grow to between 13 percent and more than 16 percent.
Currently these renewable sources count for about 7 percent of U.S. energy production, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The executives interviewed were almost evenly split on the future availability of oil and whether the rate of world oil production may soon begin to permanently decline. Forty-eight percent said they agreed that the world had either already reached or within several years will reach its maximum rate of oil production. Fifty-two percent of the executives disagreed with that assessment, saying production rates will continue to increase.
Three-fourths of the executives said they expect global demand for oil to peak within 20 years, with 31 percent saying it could come within a decade.
Dewhurst said the executives' views on the future of oil likely were influenced by the dramatic drop in demand, prompted by the economic turmoil, that saw global oil prices sink from a high of $147 a barrel last July to below $40 a barrel Friday.
"I think perspectives have likely shifted dramatically in recent months on whether the world is nearing a peak level of petroleum production. If you had gathered opinions only six months ago on this issue, most were worried that existing sources were drying up. Now people are hedging their bets," said Dewhurst.
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