By Sheila McNulty in Houston
Published: February 21 2008
At last week’s annual gathering of global oil industry executives and academics at the Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston, Texas, climate change and energy security were on the agenda. A US recession was not.
The surge in commodity prices to record levels in recent years has left the leading oil companies flush with cash, which they intend to continue spending.
We are making investments for a long period of time. It doesn’t alter our investment programme,”’ says Jim Mulva, chief executive of ConocoPhillips. Meanwhile, Linda Cook, Royal Dutch Shell’s executive director of gas and power, says Shell would only be affected by a recession if it was so broad that it spilled into the global economy.