AT A GLANCE: Oil Executives Testify In DC; Fitch Downgrades BP

THE NEWS: Executives from BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) and other major oil companies are testifying before Congress on Tuesday as oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's damaged well. Executives from Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), ConocoPhillips (COP), Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) are trying to distance their companies from BP. Fitch cut BP's credit rating by six notches to BBB, just two steps above junk, citing increased estimates of the size of the spill and demands from U.S. authorities that the company put $20 billion into a fund for cleanup and compensation costs. THE DETAILS: Rep. Edward Markey (D., Mass.) accused all of the oil companies at the hearing of having spill response plans that are outdated and "dead ringers for BP's." Markey asked BP America Chairman Lamar McKay: "Are you ready to apologize for getting that number so grossly wrong that the capacity of federal and state governments to put in place a response was delayed because you did not do the job?" The hearing follows accusations Monday from the House Energy and Commerce Committee that BP took shortcuts to save money, against the advice of key contractors, which may have contributed to the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP America's McKay didn't address those accusations in testimony prepared in advance of the hearing. Exxon Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson called the explosion "a dramatic departure from the industry norm in deepwater drilling," according to prepared remarks. Chevron CEO John S. Watson said in prepared remarks that he believes an independent investigation "will show that this tragedy was preventable" and urged lawmakers not to use "this single incident" as the basis for scaling back or shutting down offshore drilling. Both Tillerson and Watson said they would have made different well-design decisions than those investigators say were made by BP. The Obama administration has put a six-month halt on new deepwater drilling. On Monday, BP outlined new plans it hopes will allow it contain the leak by the end of June. The company said the cost of its response so far is $1.6 billion, but said it is too early to quantify the final bill. U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt told lawmakers that the final tally of oil flow rates will not be known for a long time. Senate Democrats demanded that BP put $20 billion into an escrow account to cover future cleanup costs and compensation payments. The White House has also called for an escrow account free from the control of BP to be established, but has yet to name a specific amount. BP is also facing criticism over plans to pay a dividend to shareholders. Lawmakers say the company should shelve any dividend until funds are reserved to pay for the cleanup and two Democratic senators expressed outrage over reports that BP is considering setting up an escrow account to pay a dividend in the future, which they called a "backdoor payment." BP has approved initial payments toward 90% of commercial large loss claims that have been filed as a result of financial impacts. The oil giant says accelerated payments will help ease the burden on impacted businesses. Fitch downgraded BP's long-term issuer default rating to BBB from AA, citing the potential cleanup costs and demands for upfront payment to a special fund. The cost to insure BP's debt spiked in response. The oil spill threatens to cause environmental and economic damage in the costal areas of in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Meanwhile, Rep. Michael Burgess (R., Texas) used the hearing to raise questions about the safety of a controversial technique for accessing vast new natural-gas supplies. MARKET REACTION: BP's ADRs were up 1.8% in recent trading to $31.21. BP has lost nearly half of its market value since the spill began. WHAT'S NEXT: President Obama will address the nation Tuesday night to outline his plans for cleaning up the oil spill, compensating victims, getting tough on the offshore oil industry and enacting new policies to reduce U.S. oil dependence. BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg and other company executives will meet Obama at the White House on Wednesday. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is scheduled to appear Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations. This testimony will be Hayward's first appearance before lawmakers since the April 20 explosion, and is likely to be a highly charged affair. DOW JONES COVERAGE: -BP Exec Says Company Supports Administration Decisions -WSJ:Obama To Call For Broad Energy Action,More Compensation From BP -Anger Over Oil Spill Spills Over To BP-Branded Fuel Retailers -Official:Tally Of Spill-Flow Rates Won't Be Known For Long Time -Safety Of Hydraulic Fracking For Gas Is Questioned At Hearing -Chevron CEO: Practices We Wouldn't Use Employed By BP -Under Pressure From Govt, BP To Accelerate Claims Process -Rep. Markey Demands Apology From BP Over Spill Estimates -Adm. Allen: US Prepared To Process Jones Act Waivers Quickly -Democratic Senators: BP Escrow Dividend Plan 'Unacceptable' -Exxon To Distance Itself From BP As House Hearing Begins -WSJ: Oil Executives Face Congressional Anger Over Spill -BP Slide After Fitch's Six-Notch Rating Downgrade -For more coverage of the oil spill, please search under the code BP. (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 15, 2010 14:49 ET (18:49 GMT)