WASHINGTON — Top oil company executives were summoned for a return engagement Tuesday on Capitol Hill to defend their business practices -- and this time, they raised their hands and were sworn in.
Still, the hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee was markedly less contentious than a similar session in November, conducted shortly after damage to Gulf Coast refineries caused by Hurricane Katrina led to gasoline prices that surpassed $3 a gallon in much of the country.
Four months ago, senators focused on accusations of price-gouging, which the company officials strongly denied. And a symbolic dispute spotlighted the tensions surrounding that hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the chairman of the Commerce panel, refused to administer the oath to the witnesses, calling such a procedure "nothing but a photo op." That, in turn, sparked complaints by Democrats.
Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, avoided any such controversy at Tuesday's hearing by swearing in the executives representing America's six largest oil and refining companies.
The businessmen then faced questions about whether mergers and acquisitions among oil and gas companies have reduced competition and led to higher prices. They flatly rejected those premises.
"My answer is, no," said Rex Tillerson, chairman and chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp.
Tillerson and executives from Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Shell Oil Co., BP America Inc. and Valero Energy Corp. said industry consolidations had made their businesses more efficient and better able to pursue large, often risky projects to boost energy supplies.
"Scale matters," David O'Reilly, Chevron's chairman and chief executive, told the committee.
Some lawmakers disputed such arguments; Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said it was "naive to think that massive consolidation has had no impact" on prices.
But overall, the hearing's tone underscored the changed political climate since gasoline prices dropped from their high marks last year. (In California, prices for regular gasoline now average slightly more than $2.50 a gallon).
Proposals for a windfall profits tax on oil companies have foundered. A tax bill approved by the Senate that could cost oil companies more than $4 billion faces an uncertain fate in negotiations with the House. And Congress might pass a bill eagerly sought by the industry that would open new areas off the Gulf Coast to energy exploration.
