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.
