The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, Oct. 26, edition that Exxon Mobil and Chevron this month committed to spending more than $50-billion (U.S.) each to buy smaller companies in deals that would let them produce more oil and natural gas for many decades. A New York Times dispatch to The Globe reports that the International Energy Agency this month released a report concluding that demand for oil, gas and other fossil fuels would peak by 2030 as sales of electric cars and use of renewable energy surged. The disconnect between what oil companies and many energy experts think will happen in the coming years has never been quite this stark. Big oil companies are doubling down on drilling for oil and gas and processing it into fuels for use in engines, power plants and industrial machinery. With only a few exceptions, they are not spending much on alternatives such as wind and solar power and electric-car batteries. Officials at the IEA think the oil companies are making a bad bet. They point to the stunningly fast growth in renewable energy and sales of electric cars, mopeds and other vehicles -- one out of every five new vehicles sold this year will be battery-powered, up from one out of every 25 in 2020.