"He accepted no contributions from oil and gas company political action committees, or from those who are paid to lobby Congress on behalf of oil and gas companies -- the money that is intended to purchase influence and access on behalf of corporate interests," Labolt said.
Clinton countered Obama's ad with one detailing his oil company-related donations from employees and executives of Exxon and other major petroleum companies. Factcheck.org, part of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania, also chastised Obama for airing the spot.
"From our perspective, if there is a distinction between oil company PACs and lobbyists, and their executives, it is a mighty fine line," said Sheila Krumholz, director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign donations. "They all represent the same interest -- oil."
Clinton has taken $336,000 from oil company executives and employees since entering the presidential race, including $27,000 in March. McCain took $41,000 last month, for a total of $445,000.
Donors who spoke with The Times said their contributions were not directed by their employers.
Bill Mintz, communications director for Apache Corp., a Houston-based oil company, said his decision to give -- he contributed $2,300 in February before Obama's ad aired -- was neither solicited by his company executives nor by Obama's campaign.
Mintz said in an interview that the Obama ad did not make him regret his donation. But he also said the spot underscored what he saw as a persistent problem in the political discourse over energy.
"I don't think either party is addressing the country's and world's energy needs realistically," Mintz said. "We're not going to produce our way out of this and we're not going to solve the problem with conservation and alternative energy."
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dan.morain@latimes.com
Times researcher Maloy Moore and data analyst Sandra Poindexter contributed to this report.
