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From a purely economic standpoint, the future of Houston is energy.

But it’s the future of energy that is a big question mark.

For oil companies, the cost of doing business – of finding and getting black gold out of the ground – is up substantially.  In fact, the cost of projects is up 53 percent in just two years, a jump that experts like Richard Ward say is unprecedented.

Ward is the senior director of research for Cambridge Energy Research Associates, a group that is bringing together energy heavyweights from all over the world to talk about the issues pressing the industry now and in the future.  The week-long meeting will be in Houston.

For major companies like Exxon-Mobil, Chevron and BP, the cost of doing business makes little impact on the bottom line.  But for smaller exploration companies at the heart of the oil industry, high costs can have a catastrophic impact.

It’s called the “double bubble.” With high oil prices, costs go up for services like rigs and engineers. Additionally, a strong global economy is putting raw materials like steel and copper in high demand.

The cost of doing business won’t be the only item up for discussion at the conference.  The CEOs of Exxon-Mobil, Shell, the Kuwait Oil company, Brazil’s Petrobras and the president of OPEC will all address global oil challenges Tuesday.