HOUSTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Energy executives and U.S.

government officials on Tuesday clashed at an international

energy conference over efforts by President Joe Biden's

administration to globally advance clean fuels and geopolitical

aims.

Top energy executives took to the stage at the GasTech

conference in Houston to blast the U.S., saying it lacked a

clear policy for achieving its aims or supplying needed power

for economic developments such as the rise of artificial

intelligence.

"It would appear we do not have a cohesive, collective

decision on how policy should be rolled out and also the

sustainability of that policy for sustainable energy

development," said Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Baker Hughes ( BKR )

.

"AI's advance will depend not only on the design labs of

Silicon Valley, but also on the gas fields of the Permian

basin," Chevron ( CVX ) CEO Michael Wirth said at the annual conference.

ConocoPhillips ( COP ) CEO Ryan Lance also said the U.S. has

been slow to approve needed energy export projects or address

needed permitting improvements.

"We absolutely need permitting reform, and we need more

infrastructure," he said.

But Brad Crabtree, an assistant secretary for fossil energy

and carbon management at the U.S. Department of Energy, told the

audience that the administration's Infrastructure Bill has made

billions of dollars available for new energy projects.

The DOE is moving to accelerate project reviews to get

funding distributed for hydrogen, carbon storage and other clean

energy efforts before the change of administrations in January,

he said.

"I'm thrilled by the scope and pace of what we're doing" to

reduce carbon emissions, said Crabtree. He added he is "very

concerned" about challenges to permitting for hydrogen and

carbon storage projects.

The U.S. is collaborating broadly with other nations and

energy groups to achieve clean-energy goals and counter rivals,

said U.S. State Department official Geoffrey Pyatt.

A second thrust of U.S. energy policy is to "make sure that

Russia pays a price on the extraordinary violence that it is

inflicting on citizens," pointing to efforts to build an

coalition on sanctions.

Peter Clarke, an Exxon senior vice president, said

developing nations should not be expected to adopt the same

clean-energy strategies as advanced economies.

"There is not a one-size-fits-all for Asia," Clarke said.

"We need to be careful with taking policies in developed

nations, and expecting developing countries to jump to that."