Anti-OPEC Legislation Advances In Senate

On May 5, 2022, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced Senate Bill 977, titled No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act (NOPEC), legislation that targets OPEC and other oil cartels that up until now have evaded antitrust enforcement. The bipartisan bill—introduced last year by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and co-sponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Patrick Leahy (D-VT)—is a short and simple text that could have far-reaching implications. The bill would amend the Sherman Act to add a new section 7A that would prohibit foreign states or their instrumentalities or agents from (1) limiting production or distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum products; (2) setting or maintaining the prices of any petroleum products; or (3) "otherwise tak[ing] any action in restraint of trade" of those same products. NOPEC would also invalidate legal defenses traditionally used by sovereign countries that make up OPEC in antitrust cases,