THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Oil Executives Could Face Probe Of Their Testimony to Congress: "Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg called on the Justice Department to launch an "immediate criminal investigation" into whether executives at five major oil companies lied to Congress.": "... to investigate the testimony by top officials of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP America...": Thursday 17 Nov 2005
 

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg called on the Justice Department to launch an "immediate criminal investigation" into whether executives at five major oil companies lied to Congress.

In hearings last week before the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, Sen. Lautenberg (D., N.J.) had asked the executives whether their companies or any representatives of their companies had participated in Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force in 2001. Most of the executives responded that they hadn't participated in the task force, which drew up the Bush administration's energy policy.

Sen. Lautenberg's Justice Department request came after the Washington Post reported that a secret list compiled in the White House showed that executives from the five companies met with the task force.

"What went on at these secret White House meetings that may be motivating oil company executives to deny their participation?" Mr. Lautenberg asked in a statement yesterday.

Sen. Lautenberg asked the Justice agency to investigate the testimony by top officials of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and BP America, BP PLC's U.S. subsidiary.

Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for Mr. Cheney, said yesterday, "I am not familiar with such a list." Andrew D. Lundquist, executive director of the 14-member task force, said he held individual meetings with "many oil companies" as well as leaders of major environmental and consumer groups.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, which unsuccessfully sued the White House to get the records of the task force, said the issue was not a matter of meetings. "We wanted to get into discovery to find out the extent of their [the oil companies'] involvement." The Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit, saying the discovery effort by outside groups would intrude into the deliberative process of the executive branch.

The task force, known as the National Energy Policy Development Group, produced a detailed list of proposed energy policies in May 2001, many of which were included in the 1,700-page energy bill that passed last summer.

To some extent, the responses during the hearing revolve around a technical definition of "participation." The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia concluded in May that none of the oil companies or other nongovernment groups participated in the task force's deliberations to the extent that they had a vote on or veto over its decisions.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Mark Boudreaux said Lee R. Raymond, chief executive, was accurate in telling the Senate hearing last week that company officials didn't meet with the task force itself. But he noted that Exxon previously confirmed, in response to questions from the New York Times, that Mr. Raymond met with Mr. Cheney and that other Exxon officials met with a task-force staff member, both in February 2001. Mr. Boudreaux confirmed yesterday that staffer was Mr. Lundquist.

There was "nothing sinister or secret" about the Lundquist or Cheney meetings, Mr. Boudreaux said. He noted that on the same day that Exxon officials met with Mr. Lundquist, they also met with officials of the General Accounting Office, now called the Government Accountability Office, and with a group of Capitol Hill staffers from both parties; the following day they met with the Washington Post. The purpose of all of the meetings, Mr. Boudreaux said, was for Exxon to present its annual energy outlook, a document the company updates yearly and makes available to the public.

A ConocoPhillips spokesman said James Mulva, chairman and CEO of Phillips Petroleum in 2001, was "correct in stating that no one from his company participated in the vice president's task force. He was not aware that Archie Dunham and Alan Huffman of Conoco reportedly appeared at task force meetings." Conoco and Phillips Petroleum merged in 2002.

Don Campbell, a spokesman for Chevron, said his company didn't participate in the task force or attend its meetings. He added, however, that "as a matter of course, Chevron's Washington office has ongoing discussions with officials in the administration and the Congress on U.S. energy policy."

Ross J. Pillari, president of BP's American subsidiary, told Sen. Lautenberg at the hearing that he didn't know whether any BP America officials met with task-force members because he wasn't at that level in the company at the time. BP America spokesman Ronnie Chappell said yesterday that BP doesn't comment on its meetings with government officials as a matter of policy, "but I can tell you that meeting with state, local and government officials on energy issues is something that occurs almost daily."

Write to John J. Fialka at john.fialka@wsj.com