Oil Futures Up, Oil Stocks Down

It seems a complete contradiction, but oil companies' stocks aren't keeping pace with rising oil prices. Far from it, according to the Wall Street Journal:

The stock price of major oil companies hasn't kept pace with the price of a barrel of oil, which is now 95% more expensive than 12 months ago. Investors are skeptical that majors such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which do everything from drilling oil to refining it to selling it, are going to have big futures. The stocks are actually down this year.

Apparently analysts are saying that they face problems in oil production in the long term, "making some observers think these companies may not even be around in 10 to 15 years." Jeez, Louise. It makes you wonder why they aren't pumping huge amounts into alternative energy - or even something that seems totally unrelated. When your business depends on goop you pump out of the ground and you know supplies are limited, you might think that finding something with some long-term potential would be, oh, I don't know ... necessary?