OPEC Backlash Brews as U.S. Lawmakers Eye 1890 Law to Club Bloc - Yahoo Finance
(Bloomberg) -- Some U.S. lawmakers are seizing on the energy price surge to revive long-standing legislation that would subject the OPEC oil cartel to the same antitrust laws used more than century ago to break up Standard Oil’s monopoly.
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The “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act” -- known as NOPEC -- would allow the U.S. government to sue members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for manipulating the energy market, potentially seeking billions of dollars in reparations.
The legislation faces difficult odds amid concerns about diplomatic fallout that has led the State Department to oppose it in the past. But the House Judiciary Committee did approve the latest iteration by a voice vote in April. A Senate version has attracted sponsors from across the political spectrum, from Iowa’s conservative Republican Chuck Grassley to Vermont’s liberal Democrat Patrick Leahy. No floor votes have been scheduled.
“We’ve been talking to a number of members about it,” Leahy said in an interview Wednesday. He said he intended to discuss the legislation in a floor speech.
While OPEC hasn’t set prices since the 1980s, its members periodically agree to boost or cut production. The legislation could have widespread consequences.
“We call it a nuclear weapon with a huge and uncertain impact,” said Bob McNally, president of consultant Rapidan Energy Group and a former White House official. “The remedies in the NOPEC act range from a slap on your wrist to seize all your assets.”
“I think were the president to call for it it would pass,” McNally said.
President Joe Biden hasn’t expressed an opinion on the legislation but on Wednesday he urged the Federal Trade Commission to probe possible illegal conduct in U.S. gasoline markets. In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, Biden expressed concern about the difference between pump prices and the cost of wholesale fuel, while citing what he said was “mounting evidence of anti-consumer behavior by oil and gas companies.”
source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/opec-backlash-brews-u-lawmakers-213904320.html
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