Big oil, its lobby court bloggers in media push

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Executives at large oil companies often say that the U.S. public -- unnerved by high gasoline prices -- does not understand or appreciate how expensive it is to keep the nation's engines running.

And now in a first, two big energy companies and the American Petroleum Institute (API), the U.S. oil industry's main lobbying group, have reached out to a conservative band of bloggers to tell their story.

"We recognize here that there are many different channels of communications that exist today," Jane Van Ryan, new media advisor at API, said. "We've been looking into the blogosphere for the last several months, and there were a few people who seemed to be a little more knowledgeable about oil and gas."

Van Ryan noted that the bloggers chosen "have not been particularly critical of the industry."

On two separate trips this month, API has paid for seven bloggers to travel to Houston, Corpus Christi and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico to learn about the industry and tour facilities operated by Chevron Corp (CVX.N) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSa.L).

"We developed a trip for the bloggers to help them get a full perspective on the technology it takes to explore and produce in the Gulf of Mexico," Destin Singleton, a spokeswoman for Shell in the U.S., said. "This is just another audience still considered part of the media."

In an e-mail, a spokesman for Chevron said the bloggers were invited on the trip as part of API's outreach.

Reporters who cover the energy industry are often invited by companies to visit offshore drilling rigs or production platforms. But on a recent trip to see Chevron's $1 billion Blind Faith production platform in Ingleside, Texas, four bloggers joined wire service and industry reporters.

The postings about Chevron and its facility were largely favorable, although some commenters took the bloggers to task for accepting airfare and hotel from API, a fact they were required to disclose.

Bloggers on the trip to Texas were Ed Morrissey, who blogs for www.captainsquartersblog.com, Bruce McQuain at www.qando.net and a writer from www.newenergyandfuel.com and Carter Wood who writes for www.shopfloor.org for the National Association of Manufacturers.

API's Van Ryan said no restrictions were placed on the bloggers and their postings, and she considered the effort to education bloggers about the energy industry a success.

"We didn't have any expectations going into it," Van Ryan said. "This was an outreach effort to try and provide information."

API currently has no plans for more blogger tours in the works, she said, but 2008 plans are being discussed.

(Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)