Oil majors question Bush biofuel plan

Exxon, Chevron CEOs say technology to increase biofuel production remains well out of reach.

HOUSTON (Reuters) — Top U.S. energy companies are skeptical President Bush’s plan to boost biofuels production can wean the world’s largest consumer off fossil fuels because the technology needed remains well out of reach.

Oil majors like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., specialists in harvesting energy with drill bits and not plows, are damping the exuberance of U.S. farmers eager to reap the benefits of surging demand for corn-based ethanol.


In his State of the Union speech in January, Bush floated a plan to raise U.S. biofuels production five-fold by 2017 to help reduce reliance on Middle East oil.

But top oil executives wonder if the plan, requiring more corn-based fuel production along with a breakthrough in cellulosic ethanol from non-food sources like switchgrass and wood chips, is feasible.

Reuters