US Senate panel members introduce antitrust bill targeting OPEC

US Senate panel members introduce antitrust bill targeting OPEC

Washington (Platts)--6Apr2006

A bipartisan group of US Senate Judiciary Committee members Thursday
introduced legislation that would allow OPEC members to be sued in US courts,
strengthen oil and gas antitrust laws and define and prohibit energy price
gouging.

Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, Republican-Pennsylvania, the chief
sponsor of the bill, first unveiled the legislation in March. But he held off
formal introduction of the measure until he could hold hearings with top
executives of large US oil companies. Those hearings took place last month.

The bill, the Petroleum Industry Antitrust Act of 2006, includes a
provision that would allow the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade
Commission to file antitrust lawsuits against foreign states, such as OPEC
members, for price fixing or other anticompetitive activities. The bill
specifically describes limiting "the production or distribution of oil,
natural gas, or any other petroleum product" as an anticompetitive action that
would be deemed "illegal and a violation of this act."

The Senate has passed a similar provision, known as NOPEC, several times,
including in last year's energy bill. But those provisions have never been
approved in the House of Representatives and signed into law.

Specter's legislation also takes on US antitrust issues, and would also
prevent companies from withholding oil and gas in an effort to raise prices.

It also would set up a joint federal and state task force to investigate
information sharing between oil companies to determine if that practice has
encouraged anticompetitive pricing, and require the Justice Department and the
US Federal Trade Commission to determine whether future oil and gas industry
consolidation required closer scrutiny.

--Cathy Landry, cathy_landry@platts.com

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