WASHINGTON — Members of Congress chastised the largest oil companies today, accusing them of being no better prepared than BP to avert an environmental catastrophe.

As the oil executives testified at a House hearing, Rep. Henry Waxman asserted that the companies' spill response plans amounted to "paper exercises" that mirrored BP's failed plan. Their strategies to plug a spill deep beneath the sea are the same failed strategies that have stymied BP, the California Democrat said.

The other companies "are no better prepared to deal with a major oil spill than was BP," said Waxman, setting the tone for a tense hearing.

But the executives sought to distance themselves from BP, telling lawmakers they would not have drilled the Deepwater Horizon well in the same way as the British company. They suggested some of BP's design decisions and actions may have jeopardized well integrity.

One lawmaker after another expressed frustration at BP's inability to stop oil gushing from its stricken well as the chief executives representing ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell — as well as BPAmerica — sat shoulder to shoulder at the witness table.