Slick deals: Where is Big Oil placing its VC bets?

    With sinking oil prices and the current dire state of the energy industry, it is little wonder that oil and gas corporations are thinking a lot about their future.

    CB Insights — which put together this nifty graph below — reports that one way in which energy firms are guarding themselves against any future upsets is by investing in energy innovation. Here are key take-aways:

    • More than two dozen major oil and gas firms are investing in venture capital, either directly or through their venture capital arms.
    • Chevron Technology Ventures is by far the most active with 110 deals overall.
    • The vast majority of these firms have made VC investments in biofuels and alternative energy.
    • Very few investments have involved software startups or internet of things (IoT). However, big data platforms are a big deal.
    • Some are investing alongside other top Silicon Valley corporates. Cool Planet Energy Systems, for example, got backing from Google Ventures and GE Capital, as well as BP Ventures and ConocoPhillips.
    • Downstream and oilfield services companies tend to focus more on acquisitions of smaller players. The exception is Castrol innoVentures which focuses on connected car startups.

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