US Lawmakers Assess Spill Readiness Of Major Oil Companies

By Tennille Tracy Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--As BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) struggles to control the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, U.S. lawmakers are trying to determine whether any of the major oil companies would be better equipped to handle similar disasters. In a hearing held by a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel, Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich) said response plans developed by major oil companies contain many of the same measures outlined in BP's plan, despite the inability of BP's plan to address the crisis at Deepwater Horizon. "Reality shows you can't prevent the oil reaching the Gulf shores," Stupak said. Among the oil companies represented at the congressional hearing are BP, Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Chevron Corp. (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA, RDSA.LN). Stupak's effort to determine whether any major oil company would be better equipped than BP to handle large oil spills comes as some industry executives attempt to distance themselves from BP and its decisions. During the hearing, for example, Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson said BP didn't follow "a number of design standards" that he would consider to be industry norms. Lawmakers said similarities between the response plans, however, suggest the companies might not be prepared to handle things differently. "You say you would have done things differently, but the record does not support that the other companies would have been more prepared than BP," said committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D., Calif.). Waxman and Stupak sent a letter to BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward on Monday, outlining five "crucial decisions" that appear to have contributed to the oil spill. Exxon Mobil's Tillerson said the industry isn't well-equipped to handle large spills once they occur, so oil companies focus their efforts on prevention as a result. "When these things happen, we are not well equipped to handle them," Tillerson said. -By Tennille Tracy, Dow Jones Newswires; tennille.tracy@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 15, 2010 14:21 ET (18:21 GMT)