Big Oil spends more, only some see 2007 output up

The world’s five largest fully publicly traded oil firms are planning to invest billions of dollars more this year but extra spending may not translate into higher production.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, BP Plc, Total SA and Chevron Corp. plan up to a total of $97 billion in capital spending this year, up around 9 percent from 2006.

BP, Chevron and Shell have also said output may fall in 2007.