Rivals Critical Of BP

High-ranking executives at Chevron

, the second-largest U.S. oil company, and France's Total

, Europe's third-largest oil company, criticized the design of BP's

Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico. Roland Festor, managing director of Total's Exploration and Production unit in the U.K. and Richard Cohagan, managing director of Chevron U.K., told a parliamentary committee Tuesday they would have used different designs for Macondo because some of the techniques employed by BP were not suitable for that type of reservoir, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Total executive said the cement BP used for the well wasn't practical for a reservoir with as much pressure as Macondo had while the Chevron executive said his firm would've used more steel liners and other barriers in the well. On Monday, BP CEO Bob Dudley criticized rivals such as Chevron, Exxon Mobil

and Royal Dutch Shell

for contributing to a climate of fear following the Gulf spill.