SPUTNIK NEWS – July 25, 2018: The article highlights that once signed into law, the US Congress’s No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC) will dramatically change the balance of power in global oil markets. The legislation has been repeatedly rejected by US presidents. However, there are signs that Donald Trump may have a sympathetic ear to see the bill sign into law.
And that US lawmakers are seeking to bring an end to the efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and other non-OPEC oil producers to stabilize the global crude market.
Last week the US Senate introduced a bill, the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC), which could expose the organization to antitrust lawsuits.
For nearly two decades, OPEC has engaged in efforts to control the supply of oil, often resulting in price increases for consumers. Most recently, OPEC and its allies, including Russia, cut production by about 1.8 billion barrels per day. This move triggered an international price swing, lifting prices to more than $80 a barrel at the start of summer… American consumers shouldn’t be at the mercy of OPEC at the pump. That’s why I’m working to cut OPEC’s stranglehold on consumers,” stated US Senator Chuck Grassley, a co-sponsor of the legislation.
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U.S. Senators Revive Bill to Counter OPEC ‘Price Fixing
BLOOMBERG – July 25, 2018: The article highlights that U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, along with a fellow Republican and two Democratic lawmakers, introduced legislation in the Senate that’s aimed at allowing the government to bring lawsuits against OPEC members for antitrust violations.
Lawmakers in the other chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, have already introduced a version of the “No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act,” or NOPEC, bill in May. Congress has discussed various forms of NOPEC legislation since 2000, but both George W. Bush and Barack Obama threatened to use their veto power to halt it from becoming law. The risk for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is that U.S. President Donald Trump may break with this precedent.
“It’s long past time to put an end to illegal price fixing by OPEC,” Grassley said in a statement. We are “committed to reducing our reliance on foreign oil, especially when it’s artificially and illegally priced. Our bill shows the OPEC members we will not tolerate their flagrant antitrust violations.”
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