Oil CEOs Face Congress

By Robert Hune-Kalter-Talk Radio News Service

The CEOs of ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell Oil Company, and BP America, Inc., the five largest oil companies in the United States, appeared on Capitol Hill Tuesday before members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee fired up by the Gulf Coast oil spill.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Ma.), the chairman of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee, said he expected the members of the respective oil companies to tell the committee that they believed the incident that occurred with the Deepwater Horizon was an isolated incident.

“It is this kind of blind faith, which is ironically the name of an actual rig in the Gulf, that has lead to this kind of disaster,” Markey said.

Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) questioned ExxonMobil’s accident response plan because forty pages are dedicated to dealing with media coverage, while only nine represent oil removal. He complimented Rex Tillerson, CEO of ExxonMobil for being well rehearsed.

“I was struck Mr. Tillerson, you indicated in your testimony, based on the industries extensive experience, you state that what we do know is that when you properly design wells for the range of risk anticipated, follow the established procedures, build in layers of redundancy, properly inspect and maintain equipment, train operators, conduct tests and drills, and focus on safe operations and risk management, tragic incidents like the one we’re witnessing in the Gulf today, should not occur, and I mention that because in today’s [Washington] Post, those exact same words are there, but it’s attributed to Kenneth P. Coen, ExxonMobil’s V.P. of Public and Government Affairs,” said Stupak.

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) called for Lamar McKay to resign as CEO of BP America based on what he deemed the poor performance of the company in response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao (R-La.) had harsher words for McKay.

“Mr. Stearns asked Mr. McKay to resign. Well, in the Asian culture we do things differently. During the samurai days we’d just give you a knife and ask you to commit harakiri,” said Cao.

The four companies joining BP at the hearing were in agreement that they could not do any better containing the oil spill than BP. They stressed that an incident like the Deepwater Horizon accident can be prevented if certain measures are followed.

“The information we’ve been able to gather suggests that practices we would not put in place were employed here; For example, the casing design and the mechanical barriers put in place, appear to be different than what we would use,” said John Watson, CEO of Chevron.

McKay said that when the two relief wells are completed in mid-August, the flow of oil should be ceased.

BP President Concedes Responsibility, Says Company Will Respond To All 'Legitimate' Claims

By Benny Martinez – University of New Mexico / Talk Radio News Service

BP America Chairman and President Lamar McKay told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday that BP will take full responsibility for the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill that began on April 20th.

“Liability, blame, fault, put it over here,” McKay said. “We are the responsible party.”

As the country laments the death of 11 rig workers and the injury of 17 more, investigations remain ongoing in an effort to decipher what exactly went wrong.

“A full answer to those questions will have to await the joint investigation by the Departments of Homeland Security and Interior, Congress and an independent internal investigation that BP is conducting,” McKay said.

The biggest problem facing BP America is taking control of an oil well that continues to spew nearly 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the the Gulf of Mexico. Adding to the problem, an oil slick continues to threaten Gulf Coast states, adversely affecting the economy of the region.

A second attempt at capping the well using a containment system to funnel oil to ships 5,000 feet above is underway after an initial attempt failed. Biodegradable dispersants are being used to expedite the natural degradation process of oil and two relief wells are currently being drilled, a two to three week process, to permanently secure the spewing well.

Compensating Gulf Coast businesses and communities creates a more expensive challenge for BP to handle. According to McKay, BP is fully prepared to pay for the monetary damage resulting from the spill, even if that means exceeding a previously established $75 million liability cap.

“We are going to pay all legitimate claims,” the BP President said. “As to the $75 million, we think that we’re going to exceed that and that is irrelevant. We’re going to pay the claims and the entire resources of BP are behind this.”

Protesting profits

Demonstrators on Capitol Hill protest profits of oil companies and call for investment in renewable energy on a day where gas prices have reached a national average of $3.29 per gallon.

Congress grills oil executives over profits, subsidies, and global warming

Members of the House Select Energy Independence and Global Warming Committee held a hearing called “Drilling for Answers: Oil Company Profits, Runaway Prices and the Pursuit of Alternatives” with five representatives from top oil companies including Chevron, Exxon, Shell, BP America, and ConocoPhillips.

Chairman Markey opened the hearing with an acknowledgment that the national gas price reached a record high of $3.29 yesterday, and said that Americans are hoping to be told on April Fools’ Day that skyrocketing prices are a massive hoax. He said that the poorest 20 percent of Americans are now spending approximately 10 percent of their income on gas, while oil company profits have nearly quadrupled. Markey said he hoped the oil companies would explain this disparity and divulge plans to invest these massive profits in research for renewable energy, and claimed that Americans “shouldn’t have to break the bank to fill the tank.”

Congressional representatives expressed personal and constituent dissatisfaction with the current oil situation. Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) said that US oil dependency forces America to rely on nations who are not its allies. Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) said that the oil companies should expect to see a major backlash from Congress, shareholders, and the American people as a result of big oil executives profiting instead of investing in clean energy alternatives. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) said that his constituents are losing jobs because they can no longer afford to drive to them. Rep. Blackburn (R-TN) emphasized that America does have the capacity to be energy independent, but questioned if it has the will to take steps towards implementation.

The oil company executives expressed a need for fewer restrictions against domestic drilling, and highlighted other factors independent of oil companies that contribute to rise in oil prices. John Hofmeister, President of Shell Oil, claimed that price increases are not controlled by oil companies but rather result from relentlessly rising demand, obstructions to accessing domestic oil, shortened capacity, and other external factors.

Peter Robertson, Vice Chairman for Chevron Corporation, called on Congress to “help to open up the 85 percent of the Outer Continental Shelf that is off limits” and claimed that America cannot “expect other countries to expand their resource developments to meet our needs as we limit our development without good reason.”

John Lowe, Executive Vice President of ConocoPhillips, said that America needs to continue to develop all kinds of energy and cannot expect alternate energy to replace fossil fuel in a few short decades. He speculated that based on the current situation, fossil fuels must still supply two-thirds of American energy in 2030. Lowe also expressed a need for utilization of domestic fossil fuel reserves, and suggested that there is huge potential for drilling in Canada. As for development of alternate energy, Lowe said that ConocoPhillips is the largest blender of ethanol fuel and has formed a relationship with Tyson foods to create fuel out of animal fat products.

Robert Malone, Chairman and President of BP America, said that the United States will consume more oil in 2030 than it does today. He emphasized that taxing one form of energy to increase research for another will be harmful to production and the economy.