“President Obama comes to office with a strong commitment to tackle climate change,” said Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP. “Suddenly the challenges many of us have been wrestling with for a long time  the importance of energy security in providing economic security, and tackling the issue of climate change in a way that is commercially viable  are center stage.”

During his election campaign, Mr. Obama frequently criticized big oil companies, expressed skepticism about offshore drilling, and pledged to try to replace hydrocarbons with more renewable fuels. He has made energy and environmental policy a cornerstone of both his national security and economic efforts.

The executives strongly urged the administration to open up the continental shelf for offshore drilling at the very time that the interior secretary, Ken Salazar, announced that the government would review and probably scale back the Bush administration’s plan to give oil and gas drillers new rights.

Exxon Mobil, which had long been skeptical of global warming, offered its own suggestions. One of the company’s top executives, Michael J. Dolan, said that Exxon would back a tax on carbon, while criticizing a so-called cap-and-trade approach.

Under the cap-and-trade formula, which has considerable momentum in Washington, the government would set a ceiling on how much carbon dioxide could be emitted into the atmosphere each year. It would then give or sell permits that companies would be allowed to trade to meet their limit. Emitting carbon dioxide at present involves no penalties in the United States, meaning that companies have little incentive to curb their pollution.