Wall Street Journal, Nov. 10, 2010.

Testimony led this week by Messrs. Graham and Reilly has painted a picture of managers aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig .....operating on the fly, changing complex plans and making a series of decisions that increased the risks of a catastrophic blowout.
While commission officials stopped short of blaming these decisions on a desire to cut costs, they have said that cost pressures loomed over the operation.
Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson told Commission members Tuesday that it was critical for the industry to instill a strong safety culture. "It's in the companies' best interests to improve in this area," he said.
The Interior Dept. has asked Congress for an additional $75 million to hire more-skilled workers, such as petroleum engineers, instead of relying so much on rig inspectors using a check-the-box oversight approach.
It isn't clear whether the request will find support among newly empowered Republicans in Congress or from oil-industry leaders.

Mr Tilerson, Exxon Mobil CEO, pointed out that it would be tough for regulatory agancies to hire people skilled enough in the complex technology of deepwater drilling to oversee such operations effectively. "We are an industry hiring the best and brightest people, and we pay them so they will come work for us," he said. "It's a difficult challenge for [regulatory agencies] to have people at the same levelof competency."