Big Oil Warns Biofuels Will Not Meet U.S. Energy Needs [View All]

[Doondoo]

Top executives in the U.S. oil and electricity industries warned U.S. lawmakers this week against relying solely on biofuels for energy security, calling instead for more domestic drilling, streamlined regulation, and access to foreign reserves.

The executives, meeting at a high-profile energy conference in Houston, voiced their concerns in the wake of a White House proposal to slash U.S. imports of foreign oil by quintupling the use of biofuels within 10 years.

.......

They said securing ample energy supplies for the United States, the world's biggest energy consumer, required diverse sources of crude and natural gas as well as incentives for construction of coal and nuclear power plants.

Calls for energy independence or weaning the United States from foreign crude were rejected.

"The path to energy security .... lies in open international trade, competitive markets, diversity of supply and the strengthening of partnerships between producing and consuming nations," Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said in a Tuesday speech.

Oil company executives said the United States should open up more offshore areas to drilling -- something that has been stalled by widespread environmental concern.


http://www.enn.com/energy.html?id=1441