What "steps to prepare for a lower carbon future" can an oil company actually take? (Unless that meant, are they bracing for a decline in oil consumption...)
If I had to speculate, oil companies will probably follow the steps of companies in other industries that have faced similar threats.
Big Tobacco's reaction to the electronic cigarette market is an example of how they could respond. I'm not expert on this topic, but I have seen reports indicating a large percentage of e-cig sales in convince stores is still going to companies owned by Big Tobacco.
tl;dr - Oil companies have so much money they could easily invest in the competing technologies to stay relevant.
