Oil giants face grilling as Dems seek to keep spill focus on industry

The CEOs of the nation’s oil giants face a stark choice when they appear Tuesday on Capitol Hill: Stand with BP or distance themselves from the company over its role in the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The executives of the biggest U.S. firms — ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and the American arms of BP and Royal Dutch Shell — will testify before a subpanel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The joint appearance — the first since the Gulf disaster began — provides Democrats a chance to keep the spotlight on “Big Oil” at a time when the White House is facing criticism over its response to the spill.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), head of the Energy and Environment subcommittee that will host the session, provided a glimpse of his line of attack Monday.

“BP clearly took actions that were unacceptable and they did so as part of a systematic pattern. What we want to put on the record is whether or not the other companies accept that as a standard,” Markey, a longtime antagonist of oil companies, told MSNBC.

The question could create some uncomfortable moments for the executives, who have typically toed the same line in recent years at hearings about oil prices, drilling limits and other issues.

“I think it is going to be interesting how the CEOs are going to position themselves. Will they be willing to say, 'This is not the way we would have done it'?” said David Pumphrey, an energy expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.

Another analyst expects the answer will be yes.

Larry Kumins of the Energy Policy Research Foundation notes BP’s high-profile problems in recent years, including the 2005 explosion at its Texas City refinery that killed 15 workers.

“For the rest of the industry, BP has become a poster child for bad operations, and I think the rest of the industry — which has worked hard so that they have a pretty good record and spent the money to have safe operations to keep on top of environmental concerns — are going to want to distinguish themselves from BP,” notes Kumins, a director of the industry-funded think tank.

“I think that is going to be their pitch — we are different, we are way different — and I think they can credibly make that point,” he added.

The hearing, titled “Drilling Down on America’s Energy Future: Safety, Security and Clean Energy,” is expected to cover an array of topics.

It comes as congressional Democrats are trying to keep political heat on the oil industry as they craft a legislative response to the spill. Democrats’ plans range from new liability rules and drilling safeguards to efforts aimed at sharply reducing oil reliance.

The Tuesday hearing will feature BP America CEO Lamar McKay; BP Plc CEO Tony Hayward will address lawmakers at a Thursday hearing of a separate Energy and Commerce Committee subpanel, the first time he will testify since the spill began.

But it’s the joint line-up — and the camera-ready optics of swearing in the executives in unison — that will give some Democrats a chance to call for changes to the industry and press for policies like greenhouse gas limits.

“We need to hear from BP on how the spill occurred and how it is going to make the people of the Gulf whole,” Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) said in a statement Monday. “And, more broadly, we need to hear from the oil companies in general about how they are going to prevent spills in the future.”

But she also said that lawmakers “need to hear from them all on whether or not they are going to play a constructive role in transitioning our economy away from drilling and onto clean energy sources.”

The White House has struggled to show that it’s dealing effectively with the disaster, and some polls show a negative public reaction to the response.

Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), a member of the subcommittee holding the hearing, told The Hill he hopes to address the effectiveness of the administration response.

He said that local officials are dealing with far too much red tape and laid blame at Obama’s feet, claiming the administration has ceded too much power to BP.

“If the president was leading properly, these decisions would be made quickly,” he said. “Local leaders are still having to wait days just to get basic answers to questions.”

Scalise questioned the rationale behind bringing in a parade of industry officials from companies not directly involved in the spill, rather than federal regulators.

“We have still have not had an opportunity to question the federal regulator, MMS, and they have a direct responsibility in some of this disaster,” he said, referring to the Minerals Management Service, the Interior Department branch that regulates offshore drilling. “Why do they continue to hide the administrative regulators, the federal regulators from these hearings?”

Scalise and several other Gulf Coast officials from both parties — such as Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) — have also attacked the White House decision to impose a six-month freeze on new deepwater drilling.

They allege it will impose a severe economic cost on already-struggling Gulf states. The American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s most powerful trade group, has called for the deepwater ban to be reconsidered.